Book piracy thrives amid wretched law enforcement
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
While handing out books to several senior high school students, Ucok, 38, spoke to a college student who just arrived outside his bookstore in Senen, Central Jakarta to buy a dictionary.
"I will sell this dictionary to you for Rp 20,000. This is much cheaper compared to the price offered by the big stores," said Ucok while taking a copy of the English-Indonesian dictionary written by John M. Nichols and Hassan Shadily from a pile of dozens of copies inside his shop.
After haggling for almost 10 minutes, the student bought the dictionary for merely Rp 15,000 (US$1.6), much cheaper than the original copy which carries a price tag of Rp 45,000.
Ucok is just one of hundreds of pirated book traders in the Senen market, where thousands of pirated books of different titles are sold freely.
The books range from text books for school and university students to reference books and comics. May to September is a boom period for pirated book trading as students from elementary to university level prepare for the new school year.
"I shop for books here because the authorities seem to allow all the sellers to market their stuff. It seems legal. If I can buy a book at a much cheaper price here then why should I go to the big bookstores? It cuts down on my budget a lot," Rury, a student at a private university in Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post.
A police officer from a nearby station, who was checking the security situation around the market, seemed to be carried away in a conversation with one of the shop owners. He laughed when a shop owner showed him a picture in one of his secondhand adult magazines.
Other pirated book sellers can be found in Kampung Melayu in East Jakarta, Bekasi in West Java and in Depok, also in West Java.
Members of the Indonesian Book Publishers Association (Ikapi) complained on Monday that law enforcers turned a blind eye to the sale of pirated books in the city.
"I even witnessed recently several printing companies in Rawamangun (in East Jakarta) loading thousands of pirated books of different titles into several big trucks to be distributed throughout the country," Aris Buntarman of the Ikapi said in a seminar here on Monday.
He said that most popular new books, including dictionaries, novel and textbooks, had already been pirated.
"Many prolific Indonesian authors have said that they don't want to write new books because they feel so disappointed seeing their books pirated. Benyamin Mangkudilaga (former Supreme Court judge) is one of them," said Aris, warning that should the trend continue Indonesia would lose all of its writers.
Despite the widespread book piracy, few people have been brought to justice in piracy cases as police seem to be reluctant to take action against pirated book producers, arguing that they had difficulties in gathering evidence and witnesses.
According to Ikapi data, out of the few cases brought to court, only one got a two-year prison sentence while others got only six to 10 months.
"How can this deter other people from conducting similar crimes?" Aris said.
"Police should raid several stores and compare their books with the original ones, and they will see the difference. They can use it as evidence. It is that simple. Moreover, the police don't have to wait for a public report to handle book piracy cases," Aris said.