The lingering battle: E-book piracy costs U.S. publishers $300 million annually

Online piracy remains a persistent challenge for publishers, with recent data from the Authors Guild revealing that U.S. publishers lose a staggering $300 million in income each year due to e-book piracy. While this issue is not new, the extent of the financial impact highlights the ongoing struggle publishers face in protecting their intellectual property. Unfortunately, as Forbes pointed out, the problem extends beyond the United States, as countries such as Egypt and the UK also experience significant losses to piracy. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, understanding the factors driving e-book piracy becomes essential for devising effective solutions.

Data presented by the Authors Guild during Book Expo 2019 confirmed the considerable financial ramifications of e-book piracy. A Nielsen consumer survey conducted in 2017 already indicated that $315 million in book sales was lost annually in the United States alone. Additionally, Egypt’s publishing industry suffers a loss of $16.8 million each year, while the UK’s Intellectual Property Office reported that 17 percent of all e-books consumed in 2017, equivalent to 4 million units, were pirated.

Research conducted by the Association of Italian Publishers and the Italian Federation of Newspaper Publishers highlighted the dire consequences of piracy for the Italian books and newspaper industry. In 2019, the initial study reported an astounding annual loss of €1.3 billion. A subsequent follow-up study in 2021 revealed that book piracy alone cost Italian publishers €771 million in 2021, demonstrating the persistence of this issue. Shockingly, an average of 322,000 acts of book piracy were committed daily in Italy. It’s important to note that these figures do not even include the educational and export sectors, raising concerns about the true extent of piracy’s impact.

Similarly, the Content Overseas Distribution Association, a Tokyo-based watchdog, conducted a study that unveiled the alarming extent of online piracy in the Japanese entertainment industry. Piracy of popular forms of Japanese entertainment, such as manga, anime, and video games, resulted in losses of approximately 2 trillion yen in 2021. This figure represents a five-fold increase from 2019, as reported by Japan Today. The association attributes this significant surge in piracy to two key factors: the increased amount of time people spent at home during the COVID-19 pandemic and the growing adoption of streaming services. These factors are likely to contribute to the ongoing challenge of combating online piracy in the Japanese entertainment sector.

Pinpointing the precise reasons behind e-book piracy is a complex task. In a recent article by The Guardian, some e-book pirates attempted to justify their actions by claiming they only targeted “big-name” authors who, in their opinion, did not require additional income. Others asserted that stealing digital works did not result in the same financial loss as stealing physical books. Some even expressed the belief that culture should be freely accessible to all. Such rationalizations reflect a disconnect between the consequences of piracy and the value attributed to creative works.

The ease with which e-books can be pirated also seems to play a significant role in the prevalence of this issue. Large-scale e-book pirating websites accessible to anyone with an internet connection make it effortless for individuals to obtain unauthorized copies. Many individuals admitted to resorting to piracy during their university years when faced with exorbitant textbook costs. Others, living on limited incomes or facing challenges related to disabilities and mental health, cited difficulties in accessing libraries as reasons for turning to piracy.

The consequences of e-book piracy extend beyond financial losses. Authors frequently find it challenging to continue writing book series that fail to generate profits, and e-book piracy exacerbates this issue. Author Ryan North recently shared an example on Twitter where commenters on a comic book pirating site lamented the cancellation of a series, realizing they could no longer pirate it. Such instances underscore the impact piracy has on authors’ livelihoods and the potential disruption it causes within the publishing industry.

Despite ongoing efforts to combat piracy, e-book infringement remains a pervasive issue. The allure of accessing free content, combined with the ease of pirating digital works, contributes to its persistence. As technology evolves, finding effective solutions to protect intellectual property becomes imperative. Publishers, authors, and industry stakeholders must continue to collaborate on innovative strategies, education campaigns, and improved digital rights management tools to minimize the financial and creative toll of e-book piracy.