Piracy hurting book publishers

• After seizure of school set books, Longhorn reveals it losses Sh400m annually to counterfeits

“We have made a number of raids in Kisii and Mombasa where we have found pirated books being sold by booksellers,” she explains. “We have resolved to blacklist booksellers dealing with counterfeits.”

Crooked booksellers on the lookout for higher discounts collude with pirates, who offer them with super discounts. Mr Kakai Karani, the KPA vice-chair says that as a rule publishers give maximum discounts of 35 per cent to booksellers.

“But pirates who haven’t invested as much as publishers,” he says, “offer up to 60 per cent discount, which some booksellers cannot resist.”
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