As part of AEP’s continuing research and reporting on Publishing for the Digital Future, we are examining the issue of online piracy. Please read and react to this first installment.
With the continuing innovation of scanning and file-sharing technology, a lack of education (and/or respect) for copyright laws, and a culture that expects that anything can be found on the Internet for free, publishers of all media are finding their content can be hijacked and redistributed without their knowledge. And while the problem is seemingly greater in the college market, K-12 educational publishers should take notice of the issue and prepare their businesses.
The College Market
Students are the main culprits behind illegal textbook files for the college market. Many students say the high prices of college texts and that the publishers force them to take illegal actions, but the scanned textbooks are just a larger part of the downloading culture students learn at an early age.
“By the time we get them, they already believe it’s right,” said David J. Farber, a professor of computer science at the University of Pennsylvania and the former chief technologist of the Federal Communications Commission in a 2001New York Times article. “If you’re willing to bootleg music, you’re willing to bootleg anything.”
A 2008 survey from the Student Public Interest Research Groups found that while only 8 percent had succeeded in downloading a pirated textbook 75 percent said they expected piracy would probably increase if textbook prices continue to rise.
Currently, there is no direct data on the number of illegal files available on the Internet or how many dollars have been lost. According to Ed McCoyd, Director of Digital Policy for Association of American Publishers (AAP) and coordinator of AAP’s Online Piracy Working Group, when his group scans the Internet for illegal files, they find up to a few thousand infractions a month, and that is only from scanning the major sites.
“Downloads and revenue lost are especially difficult numbers to track because one illegal file can result in numerous or minimal downloads, or none at all,” says McCoyd. “When we find a file online, we don’t know how long it’s been there, how many people have downloaded it, and whether or not the people who downloaded it would otherwise have purchased the book.”
There are mainly three types of sites that host pirated media. First, there are the one-click sites like DepositFiles.com. These sites provide space for registered users to post files. Web browsers can’t search these sites for text as users only post a link to the file on the site. Instead, a publisher would need to go to a search site like ebookee.com, search for a title, get a link to the material, and then look at the files to see if they contain copyrighted material.
Next are mainstream file-sharing and self-publishing sites like Scribd.com and esnips.com. These two sites don’t explicitly promote illegal file-sharing. In fact, the site rules say users will be banned for copyright violations. However, the site administrators are not proactive, either, and both of the sites are used by many to post and download infringements. Publishers need to search these sites to find their works.
Then, there are the peer-to-peer networks that encourage illegal file sharing and do not respond to legal notices. One site, Textbook Torrents, deals mainly with college texts. The home page has an obligatory copyright notice, but the site rules encourage visitors to “scan as many of your other textbooks as you can, and put them up here for others to benefit from.” Similarly, the creators of the Pirate Bay, which features files from all industries and media, have publicly stated that they don’t value copyright laws and have no intention of following them.
The K-12 Market
While these sites seem unlikely places for K-12 material, classroom software, text, and trade publishers should beware–these are just the major collection sites. Individual teachers, schools, and students could have millions of websites with inadvertent copyright infringement. Imagine the teacher posting a successful lesson plan and including with it a PDF of the workbook page used, a student grabbing screenshots of subscription-based web pages, or a school posting excerpts from an educational DVD online. In many cases, teachers just want to share with other teachers, and publishers may not think this could be a problem. But these files could still affect a publisher’s bottom line.
- When a publisher posts some materials online for free, they attach copyright information and publication details. If a teacher likes the free download, she knows exactly where to go to buy the product. A teacher or school website might not link back to the publisher.
- When teachers post material, they may, accidentally or not, remove the copyright data. Once stripped of that crucial information, other web users may feel free to copy and distribute the materials at will.
- In publishing, the information is the business. Being freely available across the web could dilute the value of a publisher’s work to potential business partners.
AEP has begun to track this issue in K-12 publishing, but here are the initial steps supplementals can take to manage their risk infringement.
- E-media producers should investigate technology that puts copyright tracking codes in their materials.
- Scan the major collection sites.
- Hire a vendor or firm that specializes in searching for pirated materials on the web.
- Write takedown demand letters to infringers and their Online Service Providers, such as website server hosts and Internet access providers; involve lawyers when necessary.
- Educate the staff–help them understand copyright laws.
- Educate customers about copyright.
UPDATE
According to an interview between the blog TorrentFreak and the site’s adminstrator, TextBook Torrents, which has been taken down, will not be back.
“We got word from several credible sources that there was a lawsuit in the works against myself personally,” the site administrator explained to TorrentFreak.
For more information
The Association of American Publishers, Digital Issues
Software and Information Industry Association, Anti-Piracy
“Founder of Textbook-Download Site Says Offering Free Copyrighted Textbooks Is Act of ‘Civil Disobedience’”
The Chronicle of Higher Education
“Students Flock to Web Sites Offering Pirated Textbooks”
The Chronicle of Higher Education
“Trying to Keep Young Internet Users From a Life of Piracy”
The New York Times
“Secrets of the Pirate Bay”
WIRED
“TextBook Torrents Turns The Final Page and Closes Down”
TorrentFreak
1 Response to “Online Piracy–The Next Generation”