A couple days ago my father sent me this slide show from the BBC on the pirate book industry in Peru. The author comments that Peru has one of the worst cases of book pirating in all of Latin America, and that books from all over the world find their way into the industry. It seems that the people producing these books are so “skilled” they often ofter pirated version of titles that have not yet been published, or translated into Spanish! The author also comments that authors from the region both dream and dread being pirated; being pirated can be the equivalent to reaching the best sellers list.
Take a look at the full slide show here.
Photograph by / fotografiá de Claudia Alva
Hace un par de días mi papá me envió esta presentación fotográfica de la BBC sobre la industria del libro pirata en el Perú. El autor comenta que el Perú tiene uno de los peores casos de piratería de libros en toda América Latina, y que los libros de todo el mundo encuentran camino a esta industria Parece que las personas que producen estos libros son tan “experto” que a menudo ofrecen la versión pirata de títulos que aún no han sido publicados o traducidos al español! El autor también comenta que los autores de la región tanto sueño como temen ser pirateados; la piratería puede ser el equivalente a llegar a la lista de best sellers.
Eche un vistazo a la presentación completa aquí.
Dr. Arthur Frederick Ide
Pirated books are everywhere, especially in schools and universities. In most cases the photocopying is bad to illegible, and librarians, such as at USAT in Chiclayo, claim that they have letters form authors or publishers that allow them to let students photocopy entire books (I have never given a release for any of the books I have written, but find them in illegal formats at numerous schools). Street hawkers and “bookstores” openly sell pirated books and police say nothing and judges toss out complaints by publishers and authors. Not until publishers refuse to sell books to Peru will this crime end–as the students learn nothing as most copies are incomplete: missing pages, illustrations and more. Of course the sale or even the photocopying of books on ethics is non-existent, with Jesuit priests at Roman Catholic universities using pirated copies of the discredited Mel Gibson movie “Passion of Christ” being used as a “reliable resource.” This is one of the reasons that Peru ranks last for schools, and its universities (outside of the Pontifical) rank under 500 on international scales.