The 10th Publishers Conference, organized by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) at Expo Centre Sharjah ahead of the official opening of the 39th Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) had two panel sessions discussing the challenges and impact of book piracy and the surging popularity of audiobooks.
The session titled ‘Book Piracy: What can be done about this problem?’ witnessed speakers discussing how pirates hijack the works of authorized publishers who have invested time and resources to gain rights to publication and translation, the rise in illegal downloads on multiple platforms through unauthorized websites, how pirated works are imported into Nigeria from many Far East and Asian countries. The publishers opined that while complete elimination of book piracy is not possible, more steps to reduce its burden for the benefit of all stakeholders should be taken.
The final session of the three-day conference was titled ‘Listen up! The audiobook phenomenon.’ The rise in both sales and new users of audiobooks, popular audiobook choices, and the long term potential of audiobooks were discussed.
