KUALA LUMPUR: A bookstore owner was forced to close 15 outlets after he suffered RM2 million in losses due to rampant photocopying of academic books by university students.
University Book Store Malaysia managing director Keith Thong said his company had to close their shops in university campuses due to poor response since most students took the shortcut by photocopying academic books.
"In the past eight years, all our book shops in public universities and private colleges started to fold. The closure was done in stages as we tried to persevere, but as students continued scanning and photocopying academic literature, we could not sustain anymore.
"The closure had nothing to do with the Covid-19 pandemic. Piracy involving books has been going on for very long," he told Berita Harian.
The paper, on Wednesday, carried a front-page story on revelations by the Malaysia Reprographic Rights Centre (MARC) that local authors and publishers lost RM2.6 million every year because their copyrighted materials were reproduced without permission.
Thong, who is also the Malaysian Book Sellers Association president, said the issue remains unresolved because the top management of universities have not taken action to eradicate the photocopying culture.
"University leaders themselves, beginning from vice-chancellors to lecturers, have no respect for copyright protection. In fact, they themselves encourage academic work from foreign countries to be reproduced illegally.
"To me, this problem will only end if the university management and the Higher Education Ministry take stern action.
"The action should remind everyone that copyrighted items must be respected by all parties.
"We understand that lecturers cannot force students to buy original academic books since some students allege that lecturers want to profit from the purchases.
"However, if the ministry issues stern directives, then all parties are bound to follow them," he said, adding that the ministry must issue directives to ban all forms of pirated content and books reproduced without permission.
If the issue prolongs, said Thong, the whole book industry will feel the impact, including authors and publishers who will reduce or eventually stop producing academic books as such efforts will be seen as a waste of time, energy, money and their expertise.
"This problem has also gone beyond control because pirated works are now also sold on online platforms.
"On online platforms, like Shopee and Lazada, many traders sell pirated reading materials. Although we lodge complaints, no one steps forward to take action.
"The technological revolution has also led to plenty of piracy, with almost all books photocopied or their contents scanned to be sold," he said.