UK, US publishers joins India's triade against piracy

UK, US publishers joins India's triade against piracy
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 9: Britain's Publishers' Association (PA) and the US Association of American Publishers (AAP) have joined hands with the Federation of Publishers and Booksellers Associations of India (FPBAI) to launch an anti-piracy drive to fight illegal book and journal copying in India.

This is part of the larger campaign launched by AAP and PA against piracy in the Asia-Pacific region in the face of mounting financial losses and damage to their local distribution due to book and journal piracy, FPBAI president S C Sethi told newsmen on the sidelines of an international seminar on `Anti-Piracy of Books' here on Wednesday.

The piracy of books and journals, especially through photo-copying and unauthorised printing, resulted in over Rs 400 crore loss to publishers across the country, he said.

As part of the anti-piracy campaign, the three organisations will hold a number of seminars and workshops to create an awareness among the general public, institutions and governments on the damage that piracydoes to the economy as well as the local and international publishing industries, Sethi said.

The FPBAI would appoint experts, including a retired police official, to gather information about types of piracy in the market and take necessary legal action, he said.

In India, the third largest publisher of books, for each genuine book sold, four to five pirated copies are sold, which means that up to 80 per cent of demand is met by pirates, he said.

Britain's Publishers' Association director Ian Taylor felt that although most of the countries have adequate anti-piracy laws, their implementation is hopelessly poor.

Pointing out the photocopying of the original books was one of the oldest and most common form of piracy, he said issuing of licenses to schools, colleges and institutions in the UK for authorised photocopying of books and journals have considerably reduced piracy in the form of photocopying.

While the publishers across the globe are battling to fight the age-old piracy techniques ofphotocopying and unauthorised printing, piracy of digital or electronic publishing posed a greater danger and huge loss to publishers, he said.