Shopify was sued last year by a number of educational publishers who accused them of ignoring repeat notices that its users sell pirated digital versions of their textbooks and eBooks. The lawsuit said Shopify’s “blind eye” to piracy allows for copyright and trademark infringement on a “massive scale.” The publishers asked the court for statutory damages of up to $150,000 per … [Read more...] about Shopify settles with publishers for textbook and ebook piracy lawsuit
Ebook and Audiobook Piracy News
Google has removed 6 billion links from its search results for copyright infringement
Google announced the total number of pirated links it has removed from its search results has gone past the 6 billion mark. This marks a significant number in itself and is also reflective of the company's strong intentions in combating piracy. As ArsTechnica reported, the present effort can be considered to date back to 2018 when it first introduced a pre-emptive block list … [Read more...] about Google has removed 6 billion links from its search results for copyright infringement
Major ebook piracy site blocked in France and India
Z-Library has over 11.2 million eBooks and almost 85 million articles available on their website. However, viewed from the perspective of publishers, Z-Library is not only unfair competition but also highly illegal under copyright law. The National Publishing Union, an industry group representing more than 700 members in the publishing sector, in France has got approval to ban … [Read more...] about Major ebook piracy site blocked in France and India
Amazon wins lawsuit against ebook price fixing
Amazon and five of the major publishers have just won a lawsuit that was filed against them for fixing the prices of ebooks. According to the plaintiffs, Amazon commands 90% of retail e-book market in the United States and 50% of print trade book sales. Consumers accused the defendants of signing agreements that let the publishers inflate e-book prices by locking in a 30% … [Read more...] about Amazon wins lawsuit against ebook price fixing
Judge recommends dropping lawsuit against Amazon and Publishers for price fixing ebooks
A class action lawsuit was brought to a southern district of New York last year claiming Amazon and many of the worlds largest publishers — Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster — agreed to price fix the price of ebooks. This would keep the prices artificially, so customers would have to pay more. Last week, the US magistrate Judge … [Read more...] about Judge recommends dropping lawsuit against Amazon and Publishers for price fixing ebooks
Japanese manga publishers sue pirate site, seek $14.2 million in damages
Anything that is sought after the most is also the one that is most prone to be pirated. The same is applicable to the manga industry as well where, publishers allege that piracy has reached alarming proportions, enough for the publishers to seek legal action against the perpetrators. As the site ComicBook revealed, publishers Shueisha, Kadokawa, and Shogakukan have filed a … [Read more...] about Japanese manga publishers sue pirate site, seek $14.2 million in damages
New research claims piracy can reduce poverty. Does this point to ethical piracy?
Piracy is widely seen as something illegitimate, something that is not to be attempted by those who'd prefer to always remain on the right side of the law. However, as Torrentfreak reported, a new study has put a new twist on the usual belief, one that links software piracy to the chances of poverty getting lowered. This stems from the fact that not all can afford to own a … [Read more...] about New research claims piracy can reduce poverty. Does this point to ethical piracy?
Manga publishers Shueisha and Viz Media go all out against piracy sites
Manga is all the rage these days. Much of it has to do with the ease of availability of the particular comic form around the world, something that traditionally has been restricted to Japan even a few years ago as well. However, with increased availability, there is something else that manga publishers are having to deal with. It is privacy and the scale of it has reached … [Read more...] about Manga publishers Shueisha and Viz Media go all out against piracy sites
A large number of lawyers think ebook piracy is not theft
When you download pirated ebooks from file sharing websites, should the publishers count these as lost sales? Does piracy constitute theft and should people be punished? An in-depth study among 50 Harvard lawyers shows that downloading pirated content is widely tolerated and even supported by some. It is certainly not seen as a form of theft by these legal experts. Based on … [Read more...] about A large number of lawyers think ebook piracy is not theft
Audiobook and ebook piracy is on the rise in Italy
Digital book and audiobook piracy is running rampant in Italy, with no end in sight. The Publishers Association issued a report that stated that book piracy was estimated at $856.7 million dollars and cost over 5,400 jobs. The estimated impact of acts of piracy in 2021—fewer copies of books sold, fewer downloads of ebooks and audio books were sold, basically 112 million lost … [Read more...] about Audiobook and ebook piracy is on the rise in Italy