In 2019, the Association of Italian Publishers and the Italian Federation of Newspaper Publishers conducted research to determine the scale of piracy in the Italian market. The study was reported in January 2020, revealing an annual loss of €1.3 billion to the Italian books and newspaper industry.
A follow-up study was released in March 2022, reporting that book piracy cost €771 to Italian publishers in 2021. Reportedly, an average 322,000 activities of book piracy took place every day by Italians. Shocking!
Another shocking fact is that this data excludes educational and export sectors. So, imagine the extent of piracy!
Ricardo Franco Levi—AIE president and Federation of European Publishers vice-president, says:
“Piracy affects all the Italian creative industries—book and magazine publishing, television, cinema, and music.”
And the majority of piracy acts are carried out by professionals and university students without realizing their effects on authors and publishers. Eighty-two percent of those surveyed for the study knew that piracy is illegal and unlawful.
The author and educator Stefania Auci says,
“The workforce behind the publication of a book, she said, includes “editors, proofreaders, distributors, booksellers. Piracy afflicts each of these professionals. A simple click takes away resources and dignity from those who are working.”
Piracy has touched various aspects of books industry, affecting everything from paperback to e-books, genres from fiction novels to textbooks, digital comics, etc. And controlling piracy requires serious efforts at both government and individual levels so that everyone from authors to publishers to readers can be protected against piracy.
Navkiran Dhaliwal is a seasoned content writer with 10+ years of experience. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking up a storm or spending time with her dog, Rain.