Copyright and Book Piracy in Pakistan.

The article presents the results of a survey of the views of book trade representatives in Pakistan on the issues of copyright and book piracy. The survey revealed that the high price of foreign books is the main cause of book piracy in Pakistan, and that local publishers and booksellers are the major beneficiaries. The article notes that Pakistan has to face tremendous pressure from Western countries due to widespread book piracy in the country. Pakistan in recent years has experienced a rapid and enormous expansion of higher education which has necessitated the import of foreign produced textbooks as well as reference books. On the one hand, there are the problems of scarcity of foreign exchange, inappropriate allocation of foreign exchange, strict import controls and high tariffs and, on the other hand, buyers in Pakistan are not able to buy costly imported books. This situation has resulted in the local reproduction of cheap editions in violation of copyright laws. The article put forward suggestions for protecting copyright in Pakistan, but conclude that measures to minimize book piracy will not be successful until books at low price are available for local readers.