Publishers Walk The Piracy Plank

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These may be different waters, but you have pirates here as well. We’re talking about book piracy here. The numbers are alarming. Book piracy is causing a whopping loss of Rs 300 crore to the industry and a revenue loss of more than Rs 100 crore to the exchequer every year, estimates the Federation of Publishers’ & Booksellers Association in India (FPBAI).

Though shocking, this fact is hardly surprising, considering that a survey conducted by a specialist investigation outfit in April and May 2000 found that of the 100 shops visited, more than 75 were offering pirated books for sale in Delhi.

Explained simply, piracy means “unauthorised reproduction, importing or distribution of whole or of a substantial part of works protected by copyright”.

So the Harry Potter you picked up for Rs 110 from PVR Anupam is a pirated version (a photocopy, most likely) as is the Shiv Khera You Can Win you succumbed to at the last traffic signal.

Explains advocate Akash Chittranshi, who is also the counsel for The Publishers Association, UK, in the Indian subcontinent: “The past few years have seen a rise in technology and this technology is being grossly misused by people who want to make quick bucks.”

Of course, for the buyer, it’s a different proposition. He gets the book cheaper. Reasons Satyam Gairola, a student, who has just sat for his engineering entrance examination: “One has to be practical. Why should I buy a book for Rs 400 when I’m getting a pirated one for Rs 200?”

Simple logic and that is exactly what the pirates are cashing in on. A Kalam of H S Offset printers, who allegedly pirates books, says: “Yes, I did do it at one point of time, but don’t any more. But what is wrong with it? I think there should be a fair balance between pirated and original books. We don’t lose and the authors don’t either.”

The authors don’t think so. Says Mr Khera, whose You Can Win has probably sold as many pirated copies as the original: “I have faced problems with piracy and I assure you that imitation is not always the best form of flattery.”