Publishers seek ways to cut down book piracy

JAKARTA (JP): Cutting prices is the best way to combat literary piracy which is pushing local publishers to the brink of bankruptcy, a publisher said yesterday.

Alfons Taryadi said people would buy the cheapest books regardless of paper quality or copyright.

"What people are concerned about are a book's content and reasonable prices," Alfons said.

Publishers reduced book prices by using lower quality paper he told a seminar on copyright, held by the Association of Indonesian Publishers.

Indonesian publishers, including state-owned Balai Pustaka and the giant Gramedia, have reported big losses because of copyright piracy.

Pirated books sold in roadside kiosks are much cheaper than the originals sold in bookstores. The government's efforts to eradicate piracy have not proved too successful.

Data from the publishers association reveals, that between January 1985 and February 1997, 144 titles of books published by its members were pirated.

The association estimates that its members lose Rp 2 billion (US$815,000) a year from piracy.

Under the 1982 law on property rights, anyone found guilty of plagiarizing intellectual works are liable to a maximum penalty of seven years in prison and/or a fine of Rp 100 million.

Publishers have persistently complained about taxes which have catapulted book prices and aggravated piracy.

Alfons said piracy was endangering the survival of publishers and discouraging writers, who lose royalties although sales may be high.

"The pirates only plagiarize books, they don't care about writers," he said. "But competing with them is difficult because they are not bound by regulations and do not have to pay taxes."

Cita C. Priapantja, head of the Indonesian Intellectual Property Society, said that rampant literary piracy was caused by different perceptions between police and state prosecutors on property rights.

The public needed to know that it was wrong to buy pirated books although they were cheap.

"People should be aware that they should respect intellectual property rights by not buying pirated books," she said.

Hadiah Herawatie, a State Secretariat employee working with legal matters, said that few police officers had been trained to handle matters related to intellectual property rights.

The State Secretariat in cooperation with Supreme Court, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Justice had regularly trained law enforcers on intellectual property rights, she said.

Last year, 154 officers took part in the training program. Another 90 officers would take part in training sessions this year, she added. (05/11)