Last Thursday, a 25-year-old man was fined 5.000 DKK for offering illegal copies of textbooks for sale. More than half of the illegal PDFs offered for sale originated from Nota, who makes digital textbooks available to people with reading disabilities.
On Thursday, May 4, a 25-year-old man from Copenhagen was convicted of copyright infringement after offering 47 different illegal copies of textbooks, which he managed to sell to 12 people. The convicted person thus made no less than 56 illegal copies of the textbooks. The works were uploaded to a OneDrive server, to which he sold access via DBA. The convicted man received all the PDFs from fellow students at the social worker education, after which he started selling them on. In court, he stated that everyone at in the program shared or bought PDFs in this unofficial way.
The case was tried by a judge, and the defendant pleaded not guilty. The court found that the man had intentionally and under aggravating circumstances offered digital copies of the 47 different textbooks and made no less than 56 illegal copies of the textbooks by selling them to 12 persons. The starting point for this type of offense is imprisonment, but due to the very long case processing time in the courts, the sentence ended with a fine of DKK 5,000 and confiscation of a total profit of DKK 2,450.
Many illegal PDFs originate from Nota
In March 2019, the Rights Alliance reported the now convicted man after having gathered evidence of illegal sale of access to several study books related to the social worker education, to which members the Rights Alliance own the rights. During the investigation, it became clear that 27 of the offered illegal PDF files originated from Nota. Nota makes digital versions of textbooks available to students with a visual or reading disability.
Acting Director of Nota, Michael Karvø, says: “Nota takes the illegal sharing of Nota’s materials very seriously and therefore has an ongoing focus on implementing new security measures to prevent illegal activities. In addition, Nota has a good collaboration with the Rights Alliance, as we have a common interest in counteracting any illegal activities.”
Illegal textbooks remain common
This case is far from an exceptional example of the widespread illegal use and sharing of digital textbooks among higher education students. A new survey by Epinion, conducted for the Rights Alliance, shows that one in two students (50%) who use digital textbooks have acquired a book illegally. The survey also shows that 70% of students know that sharing digital textbooks is illegal but do it anyway.
Pia Vigh, Head of Secretariat of the Danish Educational Publishers Association, says:
“When so many students share digital textbooks knowing that it is illegal, it shows a great need for the educational institutions to take more responsibility. There is a need for a cultural change at educational institutions, which managers and teachers can support by actively distancing themselves from illegal copying and helping to ensure that illegal copying also has consequences in an educational context.”
Modest sales lead to punishment
Although the illegal use of textbooks is widespread, this case shows that the enforcement options are efficient. A total of 12 people managed to buy illegal textbooks from the convicted person before the Rights Alliance removed the ads and reported the person to the police. The case thus shows that even with a modest profit, systematic illegal sale of digital textbooks can lead to punishment.
Maria Fredenslund, CEO of the Rights Alliance says: “Thanks to effective police action, we succeeded in stopping systematic sales before the consequences became too serious. This case therefore shows that systematic illegal sales are not reserved for overwhelming profits. Just a few completed sales of illegal textbooks can lead to criminal consequences.”