Shopify has found itself at the receiving end of publisher’s ire who have accused the e-commerce platform of selling pirated stuff. The publishers – Pearson Education, Inc., Macmillan Learning, Cengage Learning, Inc., Elsevier Inc., and McGraw Hill – have filed a lawsuit in the US District Court for Eastern Virginia and are also seeking damages to the tune of $500 million, The Verge reported.
The publisher’s primary grouse is that Shopify is engaged in selling pirated copies of e-books and test materials and profits from the same as well without paying heed to the concerns or demands of the publishing community. The publishers also said they have repeatedly tried to bring the issue to Shopify’s attention but not to much avail. They alleged the matter has been dragging on for years and have served details of their grievances to Shopify, often once every week though none of that seems to have worked.
Publishers also accuse Shopify of even colluding with the sellers of illegitimate stuff by offering services such as storefront building, web hosting, and payment processing. It’s like the sale of material that infringes the copyright or trademark is part of the e-commerce platform’s business strategy itself, something that also earns them profit as well. Publishers said since the pirated copies sell for far less than what the original costs, they suffer huge financial losses in the process.
Shopify president Harley Finkelstein however has denied the allegation and has stated they do all they can to remove pirated reading material from their site. They said they have dedicated teams in place for the same who keep an eye on Acceptable Use Policy violations that includes copyright and trademark violation as well while initiating strict actions on those who fail to comply with the norms.
The publishers though do not seem impressed with the response, which means it is now up to the court to decide on the issue.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.