The works of George Orwell, emblematic figure of the British literature, do not stop making talk about them. For several weeks, falsified versions of his novels are on sale on the site Amazon, the world leader in online sales. It's a New York Times investigation that uncovers this scam affair.
From rewriting to counterfeiting
From the rewriting of certain passages, to real counterfeiting and not to gross mistakes, there was something to surprise readers. "I thought badly remember the book so I bought a new version and, indeed, the first book bought is different", commented on the site a surfer who was surprised to discover passages of 1984 "slightly rewritten". Another buyer claims that in the edition he ordered, the word "faces" (faces, in English) was systematically replaced by "feces" (excrement, in English).
A counterfeit autobiography of the famous author, Dans la dèche in Paris and London, would also be marketed on the site. It was printed by a subsidiary of Amazon, without the permission of the descendants of George Orwell, according to the New York Times .
Amazon responds to attacks
These fraudulent versions of novels, published by unofficial channels, appeal to buyers by their attractive prices. A copy of 1984 sells for eight dollars, a little over seven euros on Amazon, while a copy from India is available for the sum of five dollars, about 4.5 euros.
Faced with controversy, the giant e-commerce responded in a statement released Sunday. While the company is accused of not preventing the proliferation of these counterfeits, Amazon ensures that it "strongly prohibits" these frauds. The multinational has invested "more than 400 million dollars in staff and tools (...) to protect (its) customers against fraud and abuse on (its) platform". Three billion "suspicious" publications have already been blocked, according to Amazon.
The world leader still believes that it is up to the publishing houses and authors to take care of the problem, because the copyright laws differ depending on the country. The algorithm used by the site would not be able to identify counterfeits.