Digital Books Piracy

An article in the NYT notes the fact that digital copies of books are gaining appreciable sales. Naturally, the copyright holders are worried about what this means for the possibility of piracy. The article by Randal Stross asks whether digitized copies of popular books will be Napsterized. By this the article seems to assume that the ability to copy is already a given and that what is to be questioned is whether a network for their distribution of digitized texts will be established.

Reading from the piece, it is clear that there is a limited ability at this time to receive the copies of the most popular material from a variety of sites. Still, it is important that most of these sites are peer exchange or file storage sites that do not overtly mean to ensure the unauthorized exchange of digitized books. As a representative of Rapidshare states, everything is just a file and implies that the exchange could take place.

And therein lies the answer for e-book sellers because to the extent that these products are reduced to digital files, they will almost certainly be copied and transferred irrespective of the wishes of the producers. To my mind then, the publishers are in a situation where they must study this market carefully because a law and order approach will not work. It is also clear that the pricing mechanism must change significantly to reflect the fact that digital copies are cheaper to produce. for most publishers, this will affect the profitability per copy but perhaps for the most dedicated readers, there may be higher purchases.

As argued in this blog here and here, the cumulative lessons from Napster should be studied keenly. it is also essential not to overstate the effects and degree of piracy. If indeed book purchases are shrinking, then it is essential to determine how any improvements in the quality of products for readers compares to more sophisticated digital rights management technology and law enforcement.