{"id":1647,"date":"2020-07-24T15:02:10","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T19:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog2.textbookrush.com\/?p=1647"},"modified":"2020-08-13T10:41:54","modified_gmt":"2020-08-13T14:41:54","slug":"counterfeit-textbooks-who-they-hurt-how-to-avoid-purchasing-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.textbookrush.com\/blog\/post\/counterfeit-textbooks-who-they-hurt-how-to-avoid-purchasing-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Counterfeit Textbooks, Who They Hurt & How to Avoid Purchasing One"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For many years, the allure of counterfeit products has grabbed hold of tourists taking a stroll down Canal street in New York City and the possibility of obtaining high-end, designer gear for a fraction of the cost has been tempting to many. However, not all counterfeits imitate high end items like handbags and designer clothes. In fact, a wide swathe of counterfeit items are sold every year including makeup, books, movies, pens and more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purchasing of these seemingly trivial items, isn\u2019t quite as trivial as one might think. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A History of Counterfeits<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take a journey into the ancient beginnings of counterfeiting. Bear with me here. Remarkably, the history of counterfeiting can be traced as far back as 7th<\/sup> century BC\u2014that is almost three millennia ago! Historical studies have shown that counterfeit currency appeared simultaneously with the minting of the first coins within Ancient Greece. At the time, authentic coins were constructed by imprinting a design onto a disc of pure, precious metal. The pure metal composition gave each coin an intrinsic value, making each \u201cworth its weight\u201d in whatever metal served as the base. The ancient counterfeiters devised a way to manufacture imitation coins at a reduced cost. The resulting battle between authorities and counterfeiters has waged on for nearly three millennia with little or no end in sight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Counterfeits and the Textbook World<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So what effect does the purchase of a counterfeit item,\neven if accidental, have on the world today? And why should a consumer care? In 2017, a report by the\nCommission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property states the annual revenue\nlosses from intellectual property violations to the United States costs up to\n$540 billion. These losses not only affect the bottom line of big brand companies\nor record companies or publishing companies – costing them millions, but they directly\naffect the livelihoods of designers, musicians, artists and writers. For\nexample, if a professor penned your 2018 Statistics textbook, but the copy you\npurchased was a counterfeit textbook, he would lose out on the royalties that\nwould have been paid to him by the publisher had you purchased a legal copy. Multiply\nthat loss by hundreds of thousands of instances. With that said, if you\u2019re\nwondering why your school has directed you to purchase an outdated textbook,\nunderstand that the motivation for someone to create an updated version has\nbeen largely diminished due to the presence and circulation of counterfeit\ntextbooks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that\u2019s not reason enough (along with the obvious inferiority of a counterfeit) for someone, say a cash-strapped student, to care about obtaining counterfeit products, there is one more major reason to avoid doing so. Hypothetically, imagine that a student purchases a copy of a counterfeit textbook – by accident. At the end of the semester the student then chooses to resell their textbook to a bookstore in order to recoup some of the money they spent on it. Even if this person was unaware that the book was counterfeit, they have unknowingly committed copyright infringement and may be found liable of the offense. This can result in statutory fines starting at $750 per work infringed and even greater fines (up to a maximum of $150,000) per work intentionally infringed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Avoid Counterfeit Textbooks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The hypothetical above presents a haunting situation. It is because of this situation that you should avoid purchasing a counterfeit textbook in order to save money, seeing that it could actually cost you greatly in the long run. But how does one avoid buying counterfeit books or how can you tell if you\u2019ve received one? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a list of tips to keep you safe when shopping for textbooks online or at your local bookstore. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n