《哈里·波特》(Harry1 Potter)丛书中的最后一部将于本周六早晨在印度和中国上市。届时,这个日渐成熟的男孩巫师的出版商们将需要自己的魔力,才能避开盗版者的攻击。
When the final Harry Potter book goes on sale in India and China on Saturday morning, the maturing boy wizard's publishers will need their own magic to stave off attacks from pirates.
庞大的人口数量,使印度和中国成为诱人的出版市场。单是在中国,印刷者们就已印制了800多万册正版哈里·波特图书,而在印度,据企鹅印度(Penguin2 India)称,这部系列图书的爱好者们已预订了24万册《哈利·波特与死圣》(Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)。
India and China's vast populations mean they are alluring3 publishing markets. Printers have produced more than 8m legitimate4 Harry Potter books in China alone, while in India fans of the series have already placed advance orders for 240,000 copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, according to Penguin India.
但此次全球发行也将受到密切关注,作为对西方传媒集团如何应对亚洲两个发展最快经济体猖獗侵权行为的一次检验。
But the global publishing phenomenon will also be closely watched as a test of how western media groups fare against rampant5 copyright violation6 in Asia's two fastest-growing economies.
在英文原版书将主导销售的印度,出版商们希望能在关键的头几周遏制住盗版行为。企鹅印度营销负责人海玛莉o苏喜(Hemali Sodhi)解释称:"一般情况下,由于宣传攻势和禁令,大部分图书都是在刚出版的时候售出的。"
In India, where the original English version will dominate sales, publishers are hoping to keep pirates at bay for the crucial first few weeks. "Typically, given the hype and the embargo7, a very high percentage of books sells around the time of publication," explains Hemali Sodhi, head of marketing8 at Penguin India.
但是,尽管发行商开设了反盗版热线,聘用了调查者监控盗版行为,还对侵权者面临的法律风险进行了宣传,反盗版行动仍主要依赖于人手紧缺的警方。
But although the distributor has set up anti-piracy hotlines, retained investigators9 to monitor pirates, and publicised the legal risks faced by copyright violators, its efforts remain reliant on under-resourced police.
2006年,虽然在《哈利·波特与混血王子》(Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince)全球发行的4周内,就查获了1万多册盗版书,但这只是估计盗版数量的五分之一。
While more than 10,000 pirated copies of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince were seized within four weeks of its worldwide release in 2006, that was just a fifth of estimated pirate production of the work.
受聘与警方合作打击侵犯版权行为的律师事务所ACA-Law的负责人阿卡什o基特兰什(Akash Chittranshi)表示,印度街头小贩出售的畅销书影印本,价格仅为正版书的50%至80%。
Indian street hawkers sell photocopied10 bestsellers for 50-80 per cent of the cost of a real copy, says Akash Chittranshi, head of ACA-Law, a firm retained to work with police to crack down on copyright infringement11.
基特兰什表示,买家不仅应考虑盗版行为对创造价值链的影响,还应考虑拥有"可能用有毒油墨印制的不卫生书籍"带来的健康风险。
Mr Chittranshi says buyers should consider not just pirates' impact on the creative value chain, but also the health risks of holding "unhygienic books printed with ink that may be toxic12".
在中国,预计盗版者也会迅速在广阔得多的本土语言市场推出自己的译本。短短两周时间,《混血王子》的非官方译本就在北京出售了,而这部传奇小说的终篇又给盗版者留下了很多机会。
In China, pirates are also expected quickly to release their own translations for the much larger local language market. It took just two weeks for an unofficial translation of the Half-Blood Prince to go on sale in Beijing, and pirates will again have an open field with the saga's final instalment.
《哈利·波特》发行过程的严格保密,意味着企鹅的当地合作伙伴--人民文学出版社(People's Literature Publishing House)--只有在该书上市销售时才能看到英文版本,预计在10月份前不会发行中文译本。
The secrecy13 surrounding Harry Potter releases means Penguin's local partner, People's Literature Publishing House, will see the English version only when it goes on sale and does not expect to release its translation before October.
不过,该出版社的编辑叶显林表示,版权机构对盗版的打击,已帮助降低了盗版对销量的影响。
Still, publishing house editor Ye Xianlin says crackdowns by copyright authorities have helped cut piracy's impact on sales.
他表示,人民文学出版社还投资购买了特殊的纸张,以确保人们一眼就能认出正版书。叶显林表示:"孩子们的身份意识很强,如果一个孩子拿的是盗版书,而另一个拿的是正版书,那么拿盗版书的孩子肯定会感觉不舒服。"
People's Literature, he says, is also investing in distinctive14 paper to ensure the legitimate version stands out. "Children are pretty status conscious, so if one has a pirate copy and another has the legal version, the kid holding the pirated book will certainly feel uncomfortable," Mr Ye says.