Indian Publishers Collaborate with Police to Raid Delhi Book Pirates

A group of Indian publishers, which includes Penguin Random House India, Simon & Schuster India, and Hay House, has ramped up its campaign against the piracy of printed books. Recently, they orchestrated a police operation that targeted two locations in Delhi linked to the production and storage of counterfeit books. One of these locations contained an entire print-on-demand setup equipped with photocopying, binding, cutting, and lamination machinery, while the other served as a warehouse holding more than 1,600 pirated editions. This marked the third raid of its kind and the first aimed at a print-on-demand site, resulting in the arrest of two suspects. Notable titles confiscated included Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. In March, a previous raid on an illegal printing facility in Delhi uncovered 20,000 pirated books. Jyoti Taneja, legal counsel for Penguin Random House India, described the operation as a crucial step in dismantling piracy networks, asserting that intellectual property offenses will be pursued legally. Sanjiv Gupta, managing director of Simon & Schuster India, cautioned that pirated books do not guarantee completeness, accuracy, or quality. Print piracy remains a widespread global challenge, frequently involving printers that overproduce orders using inferior materials, with an increasing reliance on print-on-demand technology.