Copyright piracy increasing in Asian countries

by Special Correspondent
August 26, 2011

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1705/copyright-piracy-increasing-in-asian-countries

From Barack Obama's "Audacity of Hope" to Nelson Mandela's "Long Walk to Freedom" or Arundhati Roy's "God of Small Things" or Sidney Sheldon's "Master of the Game" - each book, as soon as turns bestseller in the West, or in some cases, published, is instantly pirated and copied by a well organized gang of underground publishers in India.

Pirated books are sold in millions of copies to Indian readers as well as smuggled to neighboring countries like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Maldives, Afghanistan and even crosses up to the Middle Eastern nations. Most interestingly, people buy these pirated books because the organized gangs sell it at much lesser price, compared to the real price fixed by the publishers for the original version. For example, Barack Obama's "Audacity of Hope" was sold in Indian cities just for US$ 3 per copy, while it is available in Bangladesh for something lesser than US$ 5. It is speculated that more than 2 million pirated copies of Obama's "Audacity of Hope" has been sold in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Moreover, several local newspapers serialized translated version of the book, right after it came in the market. Some publishers even published the translated versions of this book.

It is learnt that, as soon as a book is published in the West, organized gang of underground publishers immediately collect a copy of the original version, either from the bookstores or from amazon.com and re-print the same in at least 30 printing presses inside India and start selling it in Indian and neighboring markets.

According to information, each year, at least 75-80 books, published by the Western publishers are illegally printed in India by violating the international copyright laws. In recent months, similar underground publication network has started operating in some other Asian nations, including Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan and China.

Commenting on the current growing trend of illegal copying of bestseller books from publishers in the West, on condition of anonymity, a street vendor, selling dozens of pirated books in Dhaka said, "No one wants to buy the book at its cover price, as it is beyond buying capacity of many. So, people love to buy their favourite book from the piracy publication industry. In 2009, only 50-60 vendors were selling pirated books on the streets. But now, it has grown to 400. Moreover, pirated books are already finding shelves in large book stores in Bangladesh, India and other cities in Asia."

The same source said, in addition to pirating bestsellers, the syndicate is also picking banned books, such as Salman Rushdie's "Satanic Verses" or Taslima Nasrin's "Lajja", which are sold like 'hot cakes' on the streets of the South Asian cities.

Pirated books, which are already in circulation include: Dreams from my Father [Barack Obama], My Life [Bill Clinton], Giving [Bill Clinton], Living History [Hillary Clinton], The Oprah Winfrey Show [Pereze Hilton], Oprah Winfrey [Robin Westen], Harry Potter [J. K Roling], The End of India [Khuswant Singh], Sunset Club [Khuswant Singh], The Sikhs [Khuswant Singh], Roots [Alex Haley], Master of the Game [Sidney Sheldon], Rage of Angels [Sidney Sheldon], Tell Me Your Dreams [Sidney Sheldon], Are You Afraid of the Dark [Sidney Sheldon], Mistress of the Game [Sidney Sheldon], Morning Noon & Night [Sidney Sheldon], The Other Side of Me [Sidney Sheldon], The Naked Face [Sidney Sheldon], If Tomorrow Comes [Sidney Sheldon], A Stranger in the Mirror [Sidney Sheldon], Sky is Falling [Sidney Sheldon], Bloodline [Sidney Sheldon], Memoirs of Midnight [Sidney Sheldon], The Divanci Code [Dan Brown], Lost Symbol [Dan Brown], Brace Valentine [Adriana Trigiani], Envy [Anna Godbersen], Twilight Fall [Lynn Viehl], The Shack [William P. Young] etc.

Book piracy racket is gradually becoming aggressively active and they also now are pirating books such as dictionaries [Miriam's Webster Dictionary, Oxford Dictionary, and Collin's Dictionary], law books, novels, thrillers, comics etc. According to information, the piracy racket has established several large printing presses mostly within areas, where large number of printing presses already operate. The original books are scanned and copied page-for-page before it is put on printing machines. Later, the cover is given digital touch for gaining better resolution or is collected from the web. As soon as the copies are printed, it is distributed in entire India through well-organized group of people, who later also smuggle copies within South Asian neighbours. Though started in a small way years back, now the piracy racket has turned a multi-million dollar industry. It is also learnt that, some rackets in India and China are also active in printing pirated copies of international periodicals such as: TIME, Vogue, E, The Economist, Hello, Newsweek, Body & Soul, Playboy, Entertainment, Allure, O etc. According to information, more than half million copies of pirated version of the Playboy magazine sells only in India and China. Other magazines have circulation ranging between 75,000-200,000 copies. Pirated version of the TIME magazine is sold at US$ 0.50 per copy while magazines like Vogue or O are sold for US$ 1 each.

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