Harry Potter fans have been swapping illegal electronic versions of the latest tome on the Internet, providing a crystal ball for the burgeoning problem of online book piracy, experts said.
Though online book piracy isn't new, even for Harry Potter books, the free sharing of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" is one of the more large-scale distributions and involves a best-seller that drew worldwide media attention during its official launch in bookstores last month, selling 6.9 million copies the first day in just the United States and almost 9 million worldwide.
Furthermore, the online theft occurred even though the series has never released an e-book. The piracy collaborators converted printed copies of the book into electronic format.
"They're going out on the Net by the thousands," said David Rothman, a co-founder of The OpenReader Consortium Project, which promotes standards for electronic books. "It's an illustration of the future."
'Wake-up' call
Publishing piracy hasn't yet approached the crisis that the entertainment and software industries have faced from people sharing songs, movies and software online, Rothman said.
"But you can be sure it will reach that level if publishers don't wake up," he said.
Traditionally, book piracy in the United States has been low compared with the rest of the world, mainly because most people can borrow books for free from the library, said Al Greco, a marketing professor at Fordham University's business school and a senior researcher for the Book Industry Study Group.
The International Intellectual Property Alliance estimated that U.S. publishers lost about $571 million to foreign piracy last year.
Still, Greco said, those who pirate books domestically seem to do so for several reasons: Philosophically, they believe information should be free, or that book publishers are greedy or they pirate books to make money.
Neil Blair, an attorney for the London-based Christopher Little Literary Agency, which represents Potter author J.K. Rowling, said Rowling's latest book has been distributed online more widely and more quickly than previous editions, hitting sites within 24 hours or less after the July 16 release.
Illegal narrated audio versions of the book also were making the rounds online. And Web sites have posted translations of the e-book in various languages. Sellers have hawked the illegitimate e-book and audio books on eBay. Some were still on sale last week.
The creators of the illegitimate e-book scanned in the pages of the printed book using computer scanners, creating images, much like photographs, of every page, according to Wired News, an online magazine. They then used software to convert the images into text that can be edited in a word processor and shared the work of proofreading the final version, the magazine reported, based on conversations from online chat rooms.
The piracy may have even preceded the release of the book. In January, Rowling's Web site said that www.harrybooks.info, since shut down, had allegedly offered an electronic version of the book. Rowling warned fans that such books are illegal and could infect computers with viruses.
Crackdown on violators
Blair said he has sent out more than 100 cease and desist letters to Web sites in countries including the United States - home to the most offenders -the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia, Poland, China, Spain and Brazil. He also has sent more than 100 notices to eBay to terminate auctions of the pirated book.
The crackdown apparently has been somewhat effective. Users on some online chat rooms were griping earlier this month that many sites distributing the book were inaccessible.
Blair wouldn't say why Rowling declined to release an e-book version. Nick Bogaty, executive director of the International Digital Publishing Forum, a New York City trade group that promotes electronic publishing, said a legitimate e-book might thwart the distribution of illegal versions.
While Blair remains vigilant in the crackdown, he puts the piracy of the best-seller in perspective.
"It has been relatively significant levels," he said. "But relatively speaking, compared to the print runs and the sales, it's minuscule."
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