Vietnam looks to curb book piracy
The only way to stop illegally photocopied books in the market would be to increase fines, said Pham Sy Sau, head of Information and Copyright Office under HCM City’s Tre (Youth) Publishing House.
Speaking at a meeting held by the HCM City Youth Union’s Tre Publishing House yesterday, Sau said the current maximum fine for violating copyright is only VND30 million (US$1,686).
Last month, police found a large set of photocopied books in Thu Duc District’s Hiep Binh Phuoc Ward. The violators were fined only VND10 million ($556).
The city’s Department of Information and Communication’s inspectors, and police seized more than 100,000 books at three warehouses on April 29, which had been delivered by Minh Thang Bookstore in Ha Noi.
Most of the copies are best-sellers in the market, including Vietnamese translation of foreign titles like series of Twilight Saga, including Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer; Brisingr, the third book of the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini; and The World is Flat by Thomas L Freidman.
After only three days after Eclipse was released, thousands of illegal copies were being sold on the street at prices that were at least 20 per cent cheaper than copyright books.
Posted: May 10th, 2009
Author: Floresiensis
Categories: Christopher Paolini, Stephenie Meyer
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