A 26-year-old man from Horsens has offered 29 illegal pdfs of textbooks for sale at DBA. The case emphasizes the fact that illegal sharing of digital textbooks is a major challenge.
On Thursday 5 January, a 26-year-old man was convicted at the court in Horsens for having offered 29 pdfs of textbooks via DBA without permission from the rights holders. The offense took place in the period January to August 2018, where 15 transactions with buyers took place.
The Danish Rights Alliance reported the now convicted person to NSK – Section for Rights Protection, after gathering evidence of illegal sales of digital textbooks via three profiles on DBA. NSK investigated the case, which ended up in court, and the convicted received 10 days suspended sentence, as well as confiscation of DKK 2.245 and compensation of DKK 5.000 to the Danish Rights Alliance.
Systematic illegal sale of textbooks
The case is one of several where individuals have been convicted of illegally selling textbooks. In September 2021, a former social worker student received 20 days suspended sentence for copying and selling digital copies of textbooks, and in November 2021, a 28-year-old man was recieved 30 days suspended sentence, confiscation of proceeds, and compensation claims for systematically illegally selling digital textbooks via DBA.
According to the director of the Danish Rights Alliance, Maria Fredenslund, the recent series of lawsuits about the illegal sale of digital textbooks indicates that there is a huge problem that does not only unfold as online sales, but also takes place between the students of the country’s higher education:
“We have a serious challenge when you can make money by selling copies of textbooks that others own the rights to. These are criminals who, via systematic offences, steal earnings from publishers and authors. In addition to the more systematic offences, we unfortunately also see an unhealthy culture in higher education, where every other student has acquired textbooks illegally. There is therefore a large part of the young people of Denmark who are willing to break the law.” says Maria Fredenslund.
Illegal digital textbooks are a massive problem
The illegal textbooks in the case from Horsens are far from a unique case. In a survey conducted by Epinion from the spring of 2022, it appears that 80% of students in Denmark use digital textbooks, and well over half of these have acquired at least one digital textbook illegally. That is why Pia Vigh, Secretary General for Danish Education Publishers, sees a need for educational institutions to distance themselves more significantly from the illegal copying of textbooks:
“The case shows that the extent of illegal copying of textbooks in higher education is extensive among students. We have seen educational institutions launch, for example, awareness campaigns in connection with the start of studies – but this cannot stand alone. There is a need for a fundamental cultural change to take place among the students. It is therefore crucial that the educational institutions take a greater social responsibility for continuing to produce and publish educational material in Danish. It is essential for the quality of the education in a small language area such as Danish. The management, lecturers and tutors must take responsibility and make the students understand that it ultimately affects themselves, their professionalism and their study environment if they share textbooks illegally.”