Pirated copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, have found their way here and are selling like magic at a fraction of the original cost.
The genuine hardcover books retail for RM99.90 each while the bootleg paperback versions are sold at RM48; slightly less than half the price of the original.
The pirated versions, at a glance, appear similar to the originals except that they are paperback versions. The originals are only available in hardcover.
The laminated cover features the same illustrations as the original.
Following a tip-off, The Malay Mail visited a bookstore on the ground floor of Tesco hypermarket in Puchong yesterday, and purchased a copy.
The store, selling mostly Chinese magazines and books, had a bookcase near the entrance, where several pirated copies were displayed.
The lone cashier claimed ignorance when asked why the books were in paperback and sold at half the price of the originals.
She declined to reveal where the books were obtained from and the number sold so far.
The shop has been in operation for more than a year.
Meanwhile, an industry source said the pirates are reaping a huge profit.
According to the source, the average cost of printing a 607- page paperback of that size would cost around S$5 (RM11.25) at the most.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Pansing Distributors, the sole distributor of Harry Potter books in Malaysia and Singapore, said they were unable to comment on the matter as they were awaiting approval from Bloomsbury, the publisher.
In the first 24 hours of its release on July 16, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince sold 6.9 million copies in the US and more than two million in Britain, smashing all previous sales records of Harry Potter books.
The book has already become a victim of piracy in India, where pirated copies flooded the streets of Mumbai two days after the book’s launch.
A race has also begun in China, where the People’s Literature Publishing House is frantically attempting to release the Chinese version of the book before the pirates do.
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Harry Potter and Quickbuck Pirates
I told you we'd soon be seeing pirated Potters. This from today's Malay Mail. It will be interesting to see if Bloomsbury take action against the pirates. Or is there someone much bigger behind this scam?
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9 comments:
Aiks. Must be those el cheapo Chinese bookshops.
By the way, don't think they'll take action against Tesco since it's not Tesco's bookshop.
It's a case of market demand. The pirated copies are still more expensive than the original hardbacks in the UK sold by the supermarket chains. I believe the cheapest was £4.99 at Safeways on the first day of sales. Tesco sold the book for £7.99.
The fact is that the book, being a hardback is expensive, it's popular and people can't wait for the cheaper paperback. Given the low reading level of Malaysians generally and the fact that piracy only arises if the demand is large enough, then this shows Malaysians must be reading more.
No I don't condone piracy, but we should consider why piracy exists in the first place - because the original is expensive. So the question is why are books so expensive? They are priced out of the reach of many young Malaysians.
The recent Penguin 70 year short stories series reminds us of how Penguin started - by choosing to make books available to the masses at an affordable price. What was it, a penny a book? Does this affordability still hold true today?
Sharon, how about making a "make books cheaper" campaign. If they could do this with music CDs and movie VCD/DVDs, then why not books?
By the way, this is the first time I've ever posted a comment on a blog, yes really. You've beaten Jeff Ooi, Mack Zulkifli and Raja Petra in that regard - my usual haunts.
Animah
boo-licious - Yes, you're quite right and I read too hastily ... it wasn't Tesco but a bookshop renting space in the store ... corrected the entry.
Animah - I'm honoured to be have the first blog you've ever commented in! You certainly have a point about the price of the book ... but the unpirated paperback will arrive in the shops soon enough and cost less. Piracy makes me angry I suppose, not so much because the legitimate publisher and author looses out, but also because of the corruption that makes it possible.
Hey, even our friendly neighbourhood newsagent at Centrepoint is carrying the latest Harry Potter.
Hmmm first computer softwares, then vcd, now books well seems like the pirates got everything well "pirated" it seems. where can i get the book ah?
okkaay okay i'm being a cheapskate, but honestly there isn't anyway I could afford buying a 100 ringgit book
don't look at me like that. i'll try to borrow it
Chet - yeah, Harry Potter is no doubt sitting cheek to jowl with Henry Ford!
Namra - do what Eyeris did and free read the whole thing in the shop.
Actually, he's between the women's magazines and cash register!
Carrefour in Wangsa Maju is stocking piles of the latest Harry Potter - all originals - at 10 ringgit cheaper!
I notice that the bookshops don't seem to bring in the paperback versions anymore since the Order of the Phoenix. Suspect it's because they have lots of hardcover stocks to sell off instead.
Can you free read Harry Potter? I see it behind the counters in Times and MPH.
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