Stakeholders’ perceptions of book piracy’s benefits to society in Lithuania

Abstract

Purpose Book piracy represents a threat to the publishing industry, while for the society, book piracy provides some benefits. The purpose of this study is to examine views of readers, authors and publishers in Lithuania on book piracy’s benefits to society. Design/methodology/approach This study uses phenomenography to examine readers’, authors’ and publishers’ reflections on book piracy’s potential social benefits. The authors collected research data via semi-structured, face-to-face interviews with 10 participants from each group (readers, authors and publishers – a total of 30 interviews). Findings Six qualitatively different categories of attitudes were revealed, namely, that book piracy provides easier and more convenient access to books, helps readers save money, pushes readers to read more, helps for authors to gain more popularity, provides wider access to books and provides consumers with moral satisfaction. The similarities between readers’, authors’ and publishers’ views on benefits of book piracy outweigh the differences. Practical implications Theoretical background indicates that stakeholders’ explicitly stated attitudes towards book piracy contribute to their book piracy intentions. This study hopes to help publishers in Lithuania confront the challenge of book piracy and develop effective strategies to attenuate a normative framework with four actionable recommendations to help professionals in the publishing industry to better address book piracy. Originality/value Book piracy continues to perplex publishers, in part because they lack a clear understanding of the social and psychological underpinnings of book piracy. This study aims to develop such an understanding by filling gap in the literature on book piracy: the lack of work on readers’, authors’ and publishers’ perceptions of book piracy’s individual and social benefits.