Apple Accused Of Book Piracy In China

For a company that makes a good deal of profits from its 30% cut of sales through its iTunes music store, app store, and book store – being accused of piracy is a pretty big issue, especially when the country in which you’re accused is where your devices are mostly built, and where is likely to be the biggest growth area for your products – China. Interestingly, this book piracy is being done through the App Store rather than the iTunes Book Store which would more likely have better checks against copyright infringement like this.

A group of 22 Chinese authors have filed a 50 million yuan (£5m) lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the Cupertino-based tech behemoth is illegally selling unlicensed copies of their books on its iTunes App Store and have already sent a lawyer’s letter claiming the company is being too slow about removing their pirated content. 95 books written by famous Chinese authors such as Han Han and He Ma appear to be being sold in this way in the App Store, and with Apple taking a 30% cut of the profits and handling the payments, they need to be more vigilant in cases such as this.

The Chinese National Copyright Administration confirmed to state newspaper Xinhua that Apple were being investigated for piracy and copyright infringement, with Apple coming out with a statement saying

As an IP holder ourselves, we understand the importance of protecting intellectual property, and when we receive complaints we respond promptly and appropriately.

[via The Register]