Suspects held in pirated books investigation
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Shanghai police seized over 260,000 books in an investigation into pirated copies of children's books.
Ti Gong -
Shanghai police raid the gang in a recent action.
Ti Gong -
Shanghai police raid the gang in a recent action.
Ti Gong -
Shanghai police raid the gang in a recent action.
Ti Gong -
Shanghai police raid the gang in a recent action.
Ti Gong -
Shanghai police raid the gang in a recent action.
Ti Gong
Six people have been arrested on suspicion of pirating children’s books from over 100 publishing houses, Shanghai police said on Wednesday.
Police said they seized over 260,000 books during their investigation.
In March, police in Hongkou District were told by Beijing Kaisheng Cultural Media Co that some customers had been complaining to the company after buying pirated books.
The children's books were being sold through a WeChat account that had been operating since 2018.
The books were sold at 80 to 90 percent of the normal price, while the actual cost of a pirated book was a 10th of an authentic one, according to the police.
It is alleged that pirated books worth over 12 million yuan (US$1.8 million) had been sold online in the past two years.
Police tracked the source of the books to a man surnamed Niu who was based in Beijing.
It is claimed that Niu pirated the books in cooperation with printing factories in Beijing and Hebei Province and by copying e-books on the Internet.
Six suspects, including three factory managers, were rounded up in a recent police action.
Huang Lei, vice head of Hongkou’s economic crime police, said further investigations covering other sales channels were ongoing.
“Printing is identified as a special industry in Shanghai, and printing factories are required to report all publications to be printed to the police,” he said. “The material to be printed have to have authorization.”
Yang Bing, senior vice director of Beijing Kaisheng Cultural Media Co, which is the copyright holder of popular children’s book “Kaishu Story,” said pirated books put children at risk.
“In designing children’s books, we use paper of softer colors so as to better protect children’s eyesight, and in printing, we use healthy ink as required by national standards,” he said. “Obviously, those who pirate books tend to ignore all that.”
