College Textbook Piracy, Copyright Infringement?

A recent article in The Toronto Star brought to the forefront the thriving industry of photocopying textbooks near college campuses. Kenyon Wallace, a contributing writer for the Star, investigated the growing problem of expensive textbooks fueling an underground market for photocopied books. Local copy shops near the University of Toronto seem more than willing to help out broke college student, while putting some extra coin in their pocket.

“Copyright law exists to protect the financial rights of copyright owners, such as writers, artists and publishers. It is illegal to copy creative work without a license or permission from the copyright owner.”

Access Copyright, a collective representing some of the Canada’s biggest publishers, sued Business Depot for $10 million in 2007, arguing the chain was allowing people to copy books. But who really holds the responsibility for this violation of copyright? Should the copy shops across Canada and the United States be held responsible for copyright infringement or does the risk lie in the hands of poor college students?

Fair use of copyrighted material consists of criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship and research. Could one argue that because the copyrighted material by students is being used for research and education, it’s legal by common definition of copyright law? Publishing companies have a strong argument, presenting an annual lost in revenue of $75 million due to the underground industry across Canada.

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To recover these losses the publishers are choosing to attack copy shops, due to their direct violations of copyright fair use factors. First, copy shops are turning a profit off the copyrighted material. Therefore their purpose of use is creating income that would be unavailable if the textbooks were not necessary to copy. These businesses do offer additional services such as the paper, copy service and binding of the books, however the main product is the text and illustrations featured in the textbooks. Secondly, the publishing companies can show the effects on the potential market, with their statements of lost revenue due to the underground photocopy industry.

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Still with the publishing companies cracking down on copyright infringement laws, in a recent attempt to copyright a well know calculus textbook, ten out of twelve shops visited either provided copies or said they would copy. “One reporter paid for two copies of the book and paid a unit price of $48, tax included. The 763-page book sells for about $190 new at the University of Toronto bookstore.”

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As the cost of college tuition skyrockets and the current economy continues to strangle the funds of college students, where do students draw the line between ethical practices and survival? “Textbooks prices have risen at twice the rate of inflation over the last two decades, an average of 6 per cent per year since 1987. The proliferation of new editions and the “bundling” of CD-ROMs and workbooks with textbooks contributed significantly to the price increases.”

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As students are caught in financial jams, many students are left without much of a choice. With secondary education becoming a must for access to many of the jobs in today’s global economy, more and more students will face this financial problem. The bottom-line is with the price of education and textbooks growing out of control, how can copyright law enforce and effectively regulate the underground industry that has affected Canada’s campus and more than likely the U.S. as well.

Article Citation:
Wallace, K. (2009, January 10). Textbook Piracy Thriving Around City's Campuses. The Toronto Star, pp. News, Pg. A01.