The only way to stop illegally photocopied books in the market would be to increase fines, said Pham Sy Sau, head of Information and Copyright Office under HCM City’s Tre (Youth) Publishing House.

Speaking at a meeting held by the HCM City Youth Union’s Tre Publishing House yesterday, Sau said the current maximum fine for violating copyright is only VND30 million (US$1,686).

Last month, police found a large set of photocopied books in Thu Duc District’s Hiep Binh Phuoc Ward. The violators were fined only VND10 million ($556).

The city’s Department of Information and Communication’s inspectors, and police seized more than 100,000 books at three warehouses on April 29, which had been delivered by Minh Thang Bookstore in Ha Noi.

According to unofficial figures from the city’s publishing houses, 50 titles of Tre Publishing House, 18 titles of Tri Viet Publishing House, and five titles of Nha Nam Publishing House have been illegally photocopied.

Most of the copies are best-sellers in the market, including Vietnamese translation of foreign titles like series of Twilight Saga, including Twilight, New Moon and Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer; Brisingr, the third book of the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini; and The World is Flat by Thomas L Freidman.

Vietnamese best-selling books by Nguyen Nhat Anh like Cho Toi Mot Ve Di Tuoi Tho (Give Me a Ticket to Childhood) have been illegally photocopied as well.

Sau said many of the photocopied books were not cheaper than locally published books.

After only three days after Eclipse was released, thousands of illegal copies were being sold on the street at prices that were at least 20 per cent cheaper than copyright books.

VietNamNet/VNS