Damn ... it really could happen to you!!
Press Release: This is a direct transcript of the press release.
AAP APPLAUDS MEMBERS’ SUCCESS IN SUIT
TO STOP SALES OF PIRATED AND UNAUTHORZED TEXTBOOKS
Washington, DC, February 29, 2008: The Association of American Publishers (AAP) welcomed the February 28 announcement by four of its member publishers that they have successfully settled a trademark and copyright infringement action against the owners and operators of ValoreBooks.com, an online textbook marketplace. The four AAP publishers, Mc-Graw-Hill Education, Pearson Education, John Wiley & Sons, and Cengage Learning, brought suit against Valore for repeatedly permitting and assisting sales by third-party sellers of pirated educational materials and of foreign manufactured editions of textbooks not authorized for sale in North America, including editions bearing the publishers’ trademarks that are materially different from their authorized U.S. counterparts.
Under the terms of the settlement, Valore is prohibited from importing, purchasing, packaging, altering, marketing, or offering for distribution or sale any of the plaintiff publishers’ copyrighted textbooks and other foreign manufactured materials authorized for sale only in international regions or specific countries outside North America or that bear the publishers’ trademarks and are materially different from their authorized U.S. counterparts, and from selling and distributing pirated electronic copies of the publishers’ works.
Allan Adler, AAP’s Vice President for Legal and Government Affairs, lauded the publishers’ tenacity in pursuing blatant infringements of their intellectual property rights. “Individual publishers are in the best position to track and assess violations of their intellectual property rights and AAP is proud of its members’ determination to pursue infringers and bring them to court. AAP and the industry are ready to support these efforts in any way we can,” Adler said.
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’s more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies. AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media is among the Association’s highest priorities.
Washington, DC, February 29, 2008: The Association of American Publishers (AAP) welcomed the February 28 announcement by four of its member publishers that they have successfully settled a trademark and copyright infringement action against the owners and operators of ValoreBooks.com, an online textbook marketplace. The four AAP publishers, Mc-Graw-Hill Education, Pearson Education, John Wiley & Sons, and Cengage Learning, brought suit against Valore for repeatedly permitting and assisting sales by third-party sellers of pirated educational materials and of foreign manufactured editions of textbooks not authorized for sale in North America, including editions bearing the publishers’ trademarks that are materially different from their authorized U.S. counterparts.
Under the terms of the settlement, Valore is prohibited from importing, purchasing, packaging, altering, marketing, or offering for distribution or sale any of the plaintiff publishers’ copyrighted textbooks and other foreign manufactured materials authorized for sale only in international regions or specific countries outside North America or that bear the publishers’ trademarks and are materially different from their authorized U.S. counterparts, and from selling and distributing pirated electronic copies of the publishers’ works.
Allan Adler, AAP’s Vice President for Legal and Government Affairs, lauded the publishers’ tenacity in pursuing blatant infringements of their intellectual property rights. “Individual publishers are in the best position to track and assess violations of their intellectual property rights and AAP is proud of its members’ determination to pursue infringers and bring them to court. AAP and the industry are ready to support these efforts in any way we can,” Adler said.
The Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the U.S. book publishing industry. AAP’s more than 300 members include most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly societies. AAP members publish hardcover and paperback books in every field, educational materials for the elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and professional markets, scholarly journals, computer software, and electronic products and services. The protection of intellectual property rights in all media is among the Association’s highest priorities.
2 Comments:
Interesting. But isn't your title a bit alarmist? This is a business that was profiting from the sale of pirated electronic textbooks. If we do our jobs correctly, this shouldn't happen to us. Even if we occasionally have to scan a book without permission. None of us are widely distributing pirated texts for profit, no?
Not meant to be alarmist - just humorous as in picture me screwing up my face and letting loose with my best "whatchu talkin' bout Willis" tone when I say "Da-aaaaammmmm".
You are correct in this is likely not going to happen to anyone in the ATHEN or related communities - but it is an indication that the RIAA of the APA is indeed on the lookout and will take action.
But think for a moment of the potential ramifications of a digital version of a textbook being created by a DSS office and tagged as such being caught up in this net. Who is to say that even if we dod our jobs correctly that this company isn't making use of the resources many of us regularly turn to.
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