In a concerted action, a global group of publishers and publishers'
associations (of which Wiley was a part) achieved an important success
in the fight against copyright piracy on the Internet. Overcoming
significant technical and legal obstacles, the publishers were able to
locate the alleged operators of two high-traffic rogue Web sites, the
sharehoster service, www.ifile.it, and the link library, www.library.nu,
and to serve judicial cease-and-desist orders to them. These sites have
now shut down.
"This action reflects our commitment to protecting secure, safe, and
legitimate use of the Internet," said Stephen M. Smith, President and
CEO of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. "It is also evidence of the growing
strength of the international community of content creators and
providers taking all available legal measures against large illegal
platforms," he explained.
The two illicit sites were directly linked to one another to constitute
a highly trafficked "internet library" that makes available more than
400,000 high-quality eBooks for immediate, free, and anonymous download,
without the permission of, and without providing compensation to, the
authors and copyright owners. As one of the world's most significant
rogue Web sites, its operators made an estimated turnover of €8 million
(nearly U.S. $11 million) in revenue from selling advertising and
premium-level accounts and from donations.
"The global publishing industry has once again shown that it can and
will stand up against large-scale organised copyright crime," says Jens
Bammel, Secretary General of the International Publishers Association.
"We will not tolerate free-loaders who make unearned profits by
depriving authors and publishers of their due compensation. This is an
important step towards more transparent, honest, and fair trade of
digital content on the Internet."
"This case demonstrates, in particular in the context of current
debates, that systematic copyright infringement has developed into a
highly criminal and lucrative business. The fight against piracy is not
an impediment on one's freedom of expression, but a necessity to
reinstate the rule of law on the internet. It is not only in the
interest of the thousands of people who dedicate their working lives to
the development of our cultural heritage, but first of all in the
interest of the authors who depend on fair compensation for their work.
Whoever ignores how these issues are intertwined seriously threatens
cultural diversity," says Alexander Skipis, CEO of Börsenverein.
The high level of success enjoyed by the site's operators has been
possible because the close interconnection of a sharehoster service and
a link library enables the illegal uploading of the copyrighted works
that are made immediately accessible to the public without limitations.
The true nature of the sites has been disguised by the
legitimate-sounding domain name ("library.nu") and the overall
appearance of the sites.
Taking action against their massive infringement has been challenging
because the operators have also gone to great lengths to conceal their
identities, including name changes, false registrations, server
relocations, and the use of sophisticated anti-detection systems. They
persisted in offering infringed content despite previous attempts to
stop their illegal activities until this action.
After conducting intensive investigations, the publishers were able to
identify the site's operators and provide evidence for their connection
to the court. As a result, the publishers made extensive claims before
the Landgericht (regional court) of Munich I. A total of 17
interim injunctions were obtained and served, and the sites have shut
down.
The international alliance of publishers is coordinated by the
Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, the International Publishers
Association and the law firm Lausen Rechtsanwälte, lead managed by
lawyer Dr. Ursula Feindor-Schmidt. The publishing houses involved are
Cambridge University Press, Georg Thieme, Harper Collins, Hogrefe,
Macmillan, Cengage Learning, Elsevier, John Wiley & Sons Inc., The
McGraw-Hill Companies, Pearson Education Ltd., Pearson Education Inc.,
Oxford University Press, Springer, Taylor & Francis, C.H. Beck as well
as Walter de Gruyter. The course of action is supported by the
Association of American Publishers, Nederlands Uitgeversverbond NUV,
Associazione Italiana Editori, and the STM Group.
