In our regular feature SAMUEL BERNARD offers an opinion on a range of literary topics.
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Book pirates are the worst kind of pirates.
I am talking, of course, about the type of pirate who appropriates or reproduces the work of another without permission, not the arrrrrrrr matey kind; like Blackbeard, Sir Francis Drake, or the amiable Jack Sparrow.
Stealing creative work is stealing someone’s heart and soul, their income, their recognition for all those hours, days, weeks, months, and yes, often years of work.
While copyright infringement affects many sectors, there is little doubt that the book piracy institution poses an existential threat to the publishing industry – arguably more than any of the creative industries – namely by limiting the economic sustainability of authors. And, let’s face it, without authors, there is no industry.
More widely, the unsolicited distribution of copyrighted material denies many working in the publishing industry their due financial gains. According to the data from the Authors Guild, as published by Adam Rowe of Forbes, this is in excess of $300 million annually in the US alone. And, while all pirates are despicable, there is a reason why I say that the worst kinds of pirates are book pirates.
I am certainly not here to diminish any creative industry; quite the contrary. Every single person in the creative field deserves to make a modest living, but there are some who are struggling more than others. Take for example a comparison with the film industry, another major target by pirates.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported, as of early 2023, that Hollywood writers are earning, on average, $69 510 per year; far less than it should be if you ask me. This equates to around a six figure mark here on Australian soil. Enough perhaps to buy a smashed avo at brunch, but forget about buying a house in Sydney or Melbourne.
On the flip side of this data, in December 2022, Rafqa Touma of The Guardian published an article that examined new research by Macquarie University, the Australia Council and the Copyright Agency, which stated that the average income for a practising author is just $18 200. That’s an eye-gouging $50 000 less than the average Australian each year. And while this data isn’t entirely swayed by the piracy epidemic, it is more impactful than you may think.
In December of 2015, Michael Robotham gave a speech as part of the ‘Author Talks’ series held in Adelaide that was reported on by the Copyright Agency website. In his speech, Robotham stated that in the 20 years leading up to that point, he had published over a dozen books, and every single one of them had been pirated. Robotham said that it was nearly impossible to remove these offending websites as they were operating out of Ukraine or Russia; jurisdictions that are under-policed. Difficult to stop? Sure. Are our governments trying? That remains to be seen.
In 2020, a staffer working with Scott Morrison was sharing a pirated copy of Malcolm Turnbull’s memoir. A despicable act that left many saddened, angry, but mostly (namely me), not surprised.
While it is a complicated issue, and difficult to police, more needs to come from our federal government. More funding to police the spread of pirated materials, to educate the general public, and to unclog the drain on our industry. While it is difficult, it’s not impossible, and the longer it is left, the longer our industry suffers.
It’s time for these pirates to walk the plank and get off our books industry ship! There just isn’t enough buried treasure to go around.
ABOUT SAMUEL BERNARD
Samuel Bernard is a Literary Agent at Zeitgeist Agency in Sydney, Australia. he is also a freelance writer, book critic, and editor, writing regularly for The Weekend Australian and Good Readingmagazine and was annas previousy the editor at Verge Literary Journal in 2022 and 2023.
He graduated with a Master of Writing in 2020 and began work on a PhD in Creative Writing at Monash University in Melbourne, before deciding that his passion is in the literary industry rather than academia. In 2023, after a few truly incredible meetings with the talented Benython Oldfield, he joined Zeitgeist Agency as a Literary Agent.
In 2022, he joined an awarding-winning tech startup company as a PR Manager and was awarded a ‘Top Writer’ by Medium for his articles on ‘Women in Tech’.
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