Rebuck, Weldon warn over future threat of piracy

Rebuck, Weldon warn over future threat of piracy
21.05.10 |

Gail Rebuck and Tom Weldon have warned over the "huge cost" publishers will be faced with if piracy is left untackled, but stressed that using "exclusive or proprietary formats" will have no impact, the Financial Times reports.

The chief executive of Random House and deputy chief executive of Penguin, were speaking at a breakfast meeting yesterday (20th May) to launch the FT and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award.

Rebuck warned illegal copying had been "engrained culturally", and highlighted her company's experience with the Dan Brown title The Lost Symbol, which bred more than 1,000 illegal websites by the end of its first week on the market.

She added that the industry could cope with copying at current levels of e-book usage, but once that reaches a more significant level, it would be “a huge cost for the publisher”.

Weldon added: “The only way to fight piracy is to publish digital content across as many formats as possible, through as many channels, at a fair price. If we go for exclusive or proprietary formats, we’re completely screwed.”

At the same event, investment banker Shriti Vadera, who according to the FT helped negotiate the UK government’s last anti-piracy deal with record companies and internet service providers, said the book industry was way ahead of the record companies, which “didn’t see [the piracy threat] because they weren’t listening to their consumer”.

Financial Times