Piracy hits local book industry

10 Aug, 2014 - 00:08 0 Views
Piracy hits local book industry A book vendor on one of Bulawayo’s streets

The Sunday News

A book vendor on one of Bulawayo’s streets

A book vendor on one of Bulawayo’s streets

THE proliferation of pirate activities in the country is heavily threatening the book industry with massive reproduction of both fiction and non-fiction  books with reckless abandon.
The illegally reproduced books are later sold on the streets while authors and publishers wallow in poverty as they get nothing for their intellect.

In light of the rampant piracy, stakeholders in the book industry have called for a review of penalties slapped on those found guilty of flouting copyright and intellectual property laws through engaging concerned ministries.

Zimbabwe International Book Fair (ZIBF) chairman Musaemura Zimunya said it was disheartening to note that there were no longer financial benefits for both authors and publishers due to piracy, adding that writing was no longer as lucrative as it was in the past.

He said as a result, the authors were becoming increasingly reluctant to write while publishing companies were also collapsing.
Bookshops are also not spared the agony as they are facing stiff competition from the illegal but booming street business.

Rampant book piracy has led to the closure of publishing houses such as Longman and College Press as well as bookshops throwing hundreds of workers onto the streets where they are exposed to the vagaries of the harsh economy.

Zimunya said in the absence of action from stakeholders and law enforcement agents, the book industry would continue to suffer and buckle under the weight of piracy and in the process the country would be losing various revenue avenues and could soon become an importer of books.

He said a lot of attention was given to music piracy while there was little focus on curbing book piracy yet the damage was just the same as the whole book value chain was being compromised and distorted.

“As authors, the biggest threat to our work is piracy. It has become so much that we are unable to get any financial rewards for our work yet we are living off that work. What is worrying is that there seem to be little focus on the illegal activity and that explains why it has gone to such levels.

“We are therefore calling for the restoration of the book value chain but without the intervention of the authorities it is difficult as the existence of the cut-throat competition between books illegally sold on the streets and those sold legally is always weighing down not only on the authors but the economy as well,” said Zimunya.

He said they conducted an anti-piracy workshop where they resolved to carry out awareness campaigns aimed at educating the vendors and the “barons” that were distributing the books on the dangers of the illicit activity.

They also agreed to lobby for a review of penalties that were given to those found guilty of pirating books.
Head of Publishing Department at the National University of Science and Technology (Nust) Dr Ndabezihle Dlodlo said laws were there but it was difficult for the police to act if there were no complainants.

Dr Dlodlo said the problem of piracy was not unique to Zimbabwe but it thrived in circumstances where economic systems were collapsing.
He described pirates as thieves who steal intellectual property that is on demand and package it into sellable material.

“I almost cried when I saw it happening in Zambia during Kenneth Kaunda’s time. I never imagined it happening in Zimbabwe but now it’s happening and the problem is the economy. We have not woken up to the balance between politics and the economy. The economy will only regenerate if we put politics before the economy without which we are going to depend heavily on imports,” he said.

Educationist and one of the business leaders in the book industry Clemence Kunzekweguta said it was worrying that schools were also encouraging violation of the copyright laws by purchasing heavy duty photocopying machines for reproduction of academic books as well as allowing students to photocopy books.

“We have a problem with school heads that authorise massive reproduction of intellectual property with the authors getting virtually nothing out of it. The irony is that there are book pirates next to the Bulawayo Central Police Station and those people do their business as if it is legal.
“It is sad, however, that we in the book value chain are suffering although the reproduction of books is in a way compromising the quality of books the students read,” said Kenzekweguta.

He called for a long-term approach to the respect of intellectual property, saying it should be borne out of awareness campaigns.

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