92% of E-Book Downloads in Russia Are Pirated

E-reading is on the rise in Russia, but piracy remains a big problem for the burgeoning market.

According to figures published by Russia: Beyond the Headlines, 70% of Russians read e-books, nearly a quarter more than the number who did a year ago. Yet 92% of those readers download their books from the Internet for free, compared to around 12% [PDF] in the U.S. (Other estimates place the number even higher, around 95%.) That's all the more surprising given that the average price of an e-book in Russia is relatively cheap, around $3 to $4. That's about half the cost of a hard copy, and just a fraction of the cost of the average e-book in the U.S.

According to the same data, 36% of e-reading Russians borrow e-books from friends, and a mere 15% buy digital copies on "specialized web sites." Those digital copies generated 250 million rubles (about $7.5 million) in sales last year, nearly twice as much as 2011, according to the Russian Association of Online Publishers. E-books now account for around 1% of Russia's total book market.

Time, money and convenience are the three most-cited reasons for turning to e-books. Education is another problem. Vladimir Grigoryev, deputy head of the Russian's mass media agency Rospechat, told RBTH that many people don't know whether they are reading licensed or pirated books.

Distribution is also an issue. Three in 10 e-book readers say they turn to the format because they can't find the titles they want in stores. Only 60,000 e-books are offered through licensed retailers, while pirates offer around twice as many titles, according to one analyst's estimates.

Publishers and retailers are working to boost the number of licensed titles, and Ropeschat has launched an online campaign, dubbed "Read Legally," to educate digital readers about the need to purchase licensed works to support their favorite authors. The agency is also monitoring pirating websites, removing more than 25,000 links to unlicensed works over the last two years, according to Publishing Perspectives.

[via Quartz]

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