Piracy cripples book industry

Lazarus Sauti

Books have become cheaper for most Zimbabweans, but authors and publishers are not benefiting due to escalating piracy.

Street pavements in Harare are full of pirated books, reproduced illegally by printers who feed the informal market at cheap prices.

Most parents find prices of these books tempting, often opting for them as opposed to the few remaining formal bookstores such as Innov8, Mambo Press, Kingstons and Baroda among others.

Shepherd Matsvimbo, a street vendor, is aware that piracy is a crime, but to him it is a matter of survival.

“I know that selling pirated books, CDs and DVDs is a crime in this country, but for me it is a way of earning a living,” he said, adding that his customers are parents looking for school textbooks.

Besides street vending, National Arts Council of Zimbabwe director Elvis Mari singles out educational institutions as the major perpetrators of book piracy.

“Ironically, educational institutions from early childhood development organisations, primary and secondary schools (both public and private), colleges, polytechnics and universities (state and private) are major culprits in the illegal photocopying of educational materials.

“So pervasive is the use of illegally-photocopied materials in these institutions that strenuous efforts need to be undertaken to curb piracy in the book industry,” he said.

Echoing the same sentiments, Zimbabwe Book Publishers Association chairperson Blazio Tafireyi said investigations established as high as 64 per cent pirated materials at some schools.

“Our investigations show that schools are the major consumer of the pirated books at the present moment.

“Some schools have registered as high as 64 per cent pirated materials at their schools. These are, of course, purchased using public funds,” he said.

Author Musaemura Zimunya says educational institutions, since they often suffer shortages of essential textbooks, are fueling piracy.

“There is so much illegal photocopying and bookbinding taking place in schools and colleges.

“Publishers are stuck with hordes of books in their warehouses, but what the small guy, the underground baron is doing is to use the simplest technology to achieve maximum gains at the cost of publishers,” he said.

Sibongile Jele, a lecturer with the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Publishing Department, blames a lax law enforcement system as schools are buying pirated books, but not prosecuted.

“Law enforcers mostly chase music disc pirates and pass street vendors who sell illegally produced textbooks. This means the justice delivery system treats piracy as a minor offense compared to other crimes,” she said.

Greenfiled Chilongo, director of ZimCopy – a collecting society that administers the economic rights of creators and authors in the field of literary and artistic works in Zimbabwe, made similar allegations that educational institutions are fueling book piracy.

However, in his opening remarks at the beginning of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair Indaba recently, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Lazarus Dokora urged stakeholders to curb piracy through the development of a book policy.

“Writing is a business. To this end, the question of copyright becomes pivotal,” said Dokora.

“How do we protect ourselves against book piracy? I urge you to make your voices heard in the process of developing a national book policy.”

University of Zimbabwe lecturer in the Department of Modern Languages Kudakwashe Dhoro challenges stakeholders in the book fraternity to digitise so as to curb high production costs and the cancer of book piracy.

“Globalisation and digital citizenship has necessitated digital literacy so there is need to move away from the focus on hard to soft copies” he said.

Supporting Dhoro, author and bookseller Milton Kamwendo said: “All stakeholders must explore fresh ways of remaining relevant in this age of modern technologies.

He also said everyone in the book industry must intensify efforts to curb piracy as it is seriously affecting all in the industry.

“Piracy is not just piracy – piracy is a theft, you are stealing from the author, the market and the economy and so any work of art, production, of an author, so long as it is not rewarded in a just and equitable manner, that kills the industry,” said Kamwendo.

Mari, who is also an author with several titles under his name, said stakeholders in the book sector need to be addressed adequately of their rights.

“Practitioners in the creative industries need to be capacitated in such areas as intellectual property rights, patents and copyrights and related industry matters particularly in an environment where piracy has reached unprecedented levels,” he said.

Mari added: “The time in also nigh for piracy to attract deterrent sentences in the country’s justice delivery system just like other crimes like murder, armed robbery and rape.

“The literary arts genre yearns for concrete safeguarding measures.

“The book industry as an integral component of the creative industries is continuously enduring rampant exploitation through unbridled photocopying and selling of books.”