Why Winning A $7,000 Piracy Lawsuit Could Be The Worst News Ever For Book Publishers

John Paul Titlow posted 10 hours ago

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Earlier this week, the book publishing industry hit a milestone. For the first time ever, a publisher successfully sued consumers for pirating books via BitTorrent. As a result of the lawsuit, a pair of New York residents will pay $7,000 in damages to John Wiley and Sons, the company that puts out the “For Dummies” series of instructional books.

Sound familiar? With this litigation, Wiley borrowed a page from the playbook of the music industry, which became notorious a few years back for suing people for illegally sharing songs. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) eventually backed down from some of its most aggressive litigation after it became clear the strategy was doing little more than angering the most avid, dedicated music fans. Despite the epic failure of the RIAA’s approach, worried book publishers are now beginning to think lawsuits can help them slow the bleeding of a business that is – like the music industry before it – being radically upended by digital technology. Let’s hope this small victory for book publishers doesn’t send the industry on the same disastrous path taken by the music labels.

via Why Winning A $7,000 Piracy Lawsuit Could Be The Worst News Ever For Book Publishers.Why Winning A $7,000 Piracy Lawsuit Could Be The Worst News Ever For Book Publishers

John Paul Titlow posted 10 hours ago

inShare

12

Earlier this week, the book publishing industry hit a milestone. For the first time ever, a publisher successfully sued consumers for pirating books via BitTorrent. As a result of the lawsuit, a pair of New York residents will pay $7,000 in damages to John Wiley and Sons, the company that puts out the “For Dummies” series of instructional books.

Sound familiar? With this litigation, Wiley borrowed a page from the playbook of the music industry, which became notorious a few years back for suing people for illegally sharing songs. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) eventually backed down from some of its most aggressive litigation after it became clear the strategy was doing little more than angering the most avid, dedicated music fans. Despite the epic failure of the RIAA’s approach, worried book publishers are now beginning to think lawsuits can help them slow the bleeding of a business that is – like the music industry before it – being radically upended by digital technology. Let’s hope this small victory for book publishers doesn’t send the industry on the same disastrous path taken by the music labels.

via Why Winning A $7,000 Piracy Lawsuit Could Be The Worst News Ever For Book Publishers.