Chinese Copyright Authorities Move to Stop Pirated Textbooks

By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 6/25/2008 2:48:00 PM

The Zhejiang Provincial Copyright Bureau is cracking down on the reproduction and sale of pirated books in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, an encouraging sign for Western publishers who have long complained about Chinese book piracy. Working with author representatives and national authorities in China, the Bureau raided warehouses belonging to a textbook center affiliated with the prestigious Zhejiang University, seizing nearly 500 suspected infringing titles. University officials reportedly cooperated in the inspection and enforcement action.

The books, many of which are published by members of the Association of American Publishers and the Publishers Association of the U.K., were primarily professional, medical, scientific and technical titles and all were aimed at a university readership.

AAP international director Patricia Judd was pleased with the Bureau’s action. “This was the first time the PA and AAP have complained to the Zhejiang Bureau, and their willingness to act in a timely manner and to work with our representatives to raid this establishment is definitely a positive step in the countrywide battle against on-campus textbook piracy.”

Judd said that this raid was one of about a dozen in the past two or three years. She said Chinese authorities have not disclosed a list of publishers whose works were pirated this time. However, Judd said the publishers that are typically represented in these cases include Pearson Education, John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill, Macmillan, Elsevier, and a number of university presses, including Cambridge, MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Columbia  and the University of Chicago.