"Reading is forbidden" .. writers wrath over the trade of forged books

Hassan Masri-Cairo

"Pure your arguments Maibgash ruin Diyar and the brain Mafraqch in which the Qarya for a quarter of a pound .. Htafrq in which the original, which is true Quraan haram?".

With these angry words, Egyptian writer and novelist Omar Taher expressed his opinion on the case of falsifying books and selling them at lower prices compared to the original books, accusing officials at the Ministry of Culture of failing to treat and solve the problem that led, in his opinion, to harm writers and creators in Egypt, asking readers not to buy fake books.

The words of Taher found widespread resonance through the social networking site Facebook, especially among the category of Egyptian intellectuals and writers, but on the other hand, some sympathy with those who buy fake books in light of the high prices of books in Egypt and the poor level of reading in general, at a time when the reading file and rates and the causes of the crisis the beginning.

Statistics and figures
While the total population of Egypt is about 100 million people, an official report issued by the General Mobilization and Statistics Authority showed last year the low interest in the book, with the number of printed copies reached 123.7 thousand copies in 2016 compared to 128.4 thousand copies in 2015.

While a country such as Turkey, according to the Turkish Publishers Association, 410,641,305 books were printed last year, a per capita total of 7.18 books, which indicates that the original books are poorly printed, especially during the years. The recent rise in prices and the weak culture of reading in Egypt.

Views of intellectuals and novelists
"There is no alternative to providing popular editions at affordable prices to the public," says Egyptian novelist and publisher Islam Mesbah in an interview with Al Jazeera Net, pointing out that the basis of poor reading in Egypt and the increase in the copying of forged books is due to the fact that many large publishing houses consider the book a "cause", "Why don't large publishers tend to print books at prices close to the price of fake books to prevent counterfeiting pursuant to the burning strategy of the market?"

Mesbah pointed out that the phenomenon of falsifying books occurs with big writers in particular, and is caused by the high rise of books that range between 100 and 400 pounds (about $ 6 and $ 24), a phenomenon that increased in light of the high price of paper after floating the pound where the book was sold at 10 However, with paper prices increasing, the book is being sold at astronomical prices, forcing some to falsify books in private for a fee, with counterfeit books being sold for twice as much as the original.

Publishing industry
The book industry in Egypt is not as profitable for writers as it is in Europe or developed countries. The writer in Egypt starts small, and the profession of writing is not rewarding or profitable for him.He works with an additional profession and pays the publishing house for publishing his book.In addition, some publishing houses exploit gains for a number of editions. , And do not print other copies of counterfeit copies of the purchase order, according to Mesbah.

He went on to Al Jazeera Net that large publishing houses have special presses and the possibility of printing large may be greater than printing presses that visit books, but publishing houses only interested in achieving a great return from the book at the expense of the proportions of books sold to the public, selling 100 copies at a price of 200 pounds per copy is better than selling 200 copies at a price of 50 or 60 pounds because this saves on labor distribution and storage and in the rate of printing books and generate a profit on the publishing house at the same time.

Believing in the principle of “security of punishment for mismanagement”, former president of the Egyptian Publishers Association, Adel Al-Masri believes that increasing the illegal editions of copies of books is a result of the weakness and absence of applying penalties for violators. According to the law, the penalty for those who visit books is a fine not exceeding 500 pounds. What needs to be intensified so that the fine increases and the penalty reaches imprisonment, pointing out that the intellectual property law No. 82 has not changed since 2002.

On the weakness of reading rates and the increase of counterfeit market, Al-Masri pointed out during his remarks to Al-Jazeera Net the importance of the role of the Ministry of Culture, saying that if it wants to increase the number of intellectuals and face the weakness of literacy, it should support the development of culture, which is absent in the light of the high prices of books Limited and old projects such as the Family Library Project, which began in the 1990s.

He pointed out that there is a need to raise awareness of intellectual property and the dissemination of culture among readers to reduce the purchase of battered works, stressing that with the high distribution of counterfeit books, this negatively affects publishing houses and leads to poor production and may force publishing houses to close.