Fighting book piracy<\/p>\n
As could have been expected, the annual Indonesian Publishers
\nAssociation book fair, which opened at the Senayan Sports Hall a
\nfew days ago, once again put the spotlight on a serious malady
\nwhich has afflicted members of the association for longer than
\none can remember.<\/p>\n
The disease is called book piracy. So far it has proven to be
\nbeen incurable, and it is almost literally, bit by bit, eating
\nthe flesh off those whom it afflicts. Just how serious this
\ndisease is can be gauged from presentations made by
\nrepresentatives of some of this country's leading publishers.<\/p>\n
A rough illustration of the situation was provided in a
\nseminar at the fair. According to one of the speakers, Alfons
\nTaryadi of PT Gramedia publishing house, at least 279 book titles
\npublished by the association's members are known to have been
\nillegally copied and sold since 1985.<\/p>\n
Taryadi estimated that members stand to lose Rp 2 billion
\n(US$817,000) annually if just 10 bestsellers are pirated each
\nyear. It's a wonder so many small publishers have been able to
\nsurvive over the years given the extent of the crime here.<\/p>\n
Obviously, this is a situation that in the long term will harm
\nnot only book publishers and their legitimate sales outlets, but
\nalso the public. Book piracy eats into the earnings of not only
\npublishers and bookstores, but also the royalties of authors,
\nwhich discourages people from writing. The public could thereby
\nbe deprived of works that could -- if they are good books --
\ncontribute to promoting knowledge, intelligence, character and
\nwisdom, since good books enrich their readers.<\/p>\n
Of course, all of this has been said before. The relevant
\nquestion now is, what can be done to overcome the situation?<\/p>\n
One option would be to impose heavier penalties for book
\npiracy. As speakers at the recent seminar noted, our courts are
\ninclined to be lenient on counterfeiters, who normally get away
\nwith a mere probationary sentence, or with prison sentences of
\nless than a year.<\/p>\n
There are, of course, other options. The wind could be taken
\nout of counterfeiters' sails by keeping book prices low. It may
\nbe no coincidence that there are considerably less cases of book
\npiracy in countries where books are affordable at official
\nprices. India is one example. This could also be one of the
\nreasons why India, a developing country, has produced such a
\ncomparatively high number of world-acclaimed scientists and
\nintellectuals.<\/p>\n
It would certainly serve all of us well to look further into
\nthe possibilities of lowering prices. Evidently it would not be
\nwithout cost. For one thing, publishers and printers would have
\nto keep their costs low, meaning they would have to be relieved
\nof some of the tax and other financial burdens they now bear. In
\nthe meantime, acts of piracy must be strictly dealt with.<\/p>\n
Obviously, achieving all this would need coordinated efforts
\nby all those involved, both in the private and public sector. But
\nit is a goal worth pursuing.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fighting-book-piracy-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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