E-readers encourage growing illegal market for e-books

The availability of high quality, comparatively inexpensive e-readers stimulates the market for illegal ebook copies, claims research firm MarkMonitor. Their research shows that on average each of the top ten best-selling books was downloaded illegally for about eighty thousand times in only one month worldwide. Furthermore, the study shows that the temptation to illegaly download an ebook even occurs within some of the most unlikely social groups.

MarkMonitor is a company that specializes in brand protection in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The company tracks down online piracy, warns clients about illegal downloads and shuts down sites with illegal files. The director of MarkMonitor, Charlie Abrahams, states that if publishers do not take action, the market for illegal ebook copies will increase.

Others share Abrahams’ opinion. Previously, publishers have been warned of the dangers of illegal e-book copies. In fact, British law firm Wiggin published a report about the dangers of illegal e-book copies this spring.
The report remarkably showed that 1 in 8 women over 35 years, who own an e-reader, download illegal ebooks. Abrahams adds that classic literature books top the list of most downloaded illegal ebooks, that the researchers attribute to the school curriculum. If copyright infringement is indeed becoming more popular among a demographic group that previously never really participated in digital piracy, that would certainly be bad news for publishers.

According to MarkMonitor, there are three measures that can be taken against the rise of illegal copies of ebooks:

• Publishers should make it easier and cheaper to download books legally.
• E-reader users should be made aware illegal downloads carry the risk of viruses/malware that could wreck their devices.
• Publishers should take advantage of companies such as MarkMonitor to seek out pirate sites and remove illegal content.

Furthermore, MarkMonitor stresses that the growth of e-readers is inevitable and that it is up to the publishers how they deal with the problem of illegal e-book copies. It is up to the publishing industry to decide if it wants to take steps, or remain anchored to a business model that submerged, like the film and music industries did.

It is interesting to see what publishers will do with MarkMonitor's recommendations.

Reference: The Financial Times

By: Karen Groen