Vietnam Police Prosecute Individuals for Selling Scanned Books as E-books

Authorities in Da Nang, Vietnam, have initiated criminal proceedings against two individuals for infringing copyright by scanning physical books and selling them as e-books online. The operation, which generated billions of Vietnamese dong, underscores a growing trend of intellectual property theft moving into the digital space.

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By scanning real books and putting them online to sell 'e-books', they were prosecuted by Da Nang Police.

T.T.T.Y. from Dong Thap and P.T.N. from An Giang were arrested and charged with "infringing author's and related rights." Investigations revealed they illegally copied a large number of English-language books, including those copyrighted by the Vietnam Education Publishing House, creating digital files to sell. Customers paid annual membership fees of 499,000 Vietnamese dong for online access or purchased book sets ranging from 240,000 to 1.8 million Vietnamese dong.

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Y. colluded with N. to illegally copy a large number of English books copyrighted by the Vietnam Education Publishing House and many other publishers in digital format for posting and business on the website.

This crackdown is part of a month-long campaign in Da Nang that has uncovered 77 intellectual property violations, a significant increase from the previous year. Authorities seized nearly 11,000 counterfeit products from various famous brands. One major seizure involved 4,816 pairs of counterfeit Crocs shoes valued at over 600 million Vietnamese dong.

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Through member registration for online book reading at a fee of 499,000 VND/year, or selling e-book files for 240,000 - 1,800,000 VND/set, these two people earned billions of dong from customers nationwide.

Officials note a shift from physical store violations to sophisticated online methods, including live streaming sales, fake accounts, and cross-border platforms to conceal identities. Da Nang police have compiled a list of 371 organizations, individuals, and online accounts deemed at high risk of intellectual property infringement, including social media influencers. The city plans to maintain strict enforcement to foster a healthy business environment and protect innovation.

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If previously violations mainly occurred in stores or warehouses, now the trend of violations is rapidly shifting to the digital environment.