Piractwo czy nieformalny obieg książek elektronicznych w Polsce? Próba charakterystyki

Abstract

The phenomenon commonly called piracy has generated more and more interest in recent years. The area, at first only known to a small part of the Polish society, has become common at the beginning of 2012, in connection with the works of the government on the ratification of ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement). The activization of a large part of Polish people showed that the issue is not marginal. The illegal circulation of culture is also an important element of the digital book market in Poland, especially in the era of common Internet access. Despite holding debates and making attempts at solving the problem, there are still many aspects of piracy that are not even clearly defined. This is yet another reason to take a closer look at this phenomenon. The article presents the terms connected with the topic of piracy, with special consideration for digital books. An attempt is also made to distinguish the main aspects responsible for the development of illegal circulation of culture, as well as to describe the example methods of combating the phenomenon. In order to explore this topic, a correlation is made between it and the history of shaping the copyright laws and the development of the piracy market. Furthermore, various stances on piracy are presented, including the perspectives of creators and publishers, as well as recipients of culture.