It's never been criminal.
Are you a lawyer in the UK? The Crown Prosecution Service say that deliberate infringement may be criminal.
The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 also lists criminal penalties such as those copied below. It might be worth getting competent legal advice given jail time is a pretty significant punishment.
(2A)A person who infringes copyright in a work by communicating the work to the public—
(a)in the course of a business, or
(b)otherwise than in the course of a business to such an extent as to affect prejudicially the owner of the copyright,
commits an offence if he knows or has reason to believe that, by doing so, he is infringing copyright in that work.
(4A)A person guilty of an offence under subsection (2A) is liable—
(a)on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or a fine not exceeding £50,000, or both;
(b)on conviction on indictment to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both.