Vietnamese publisher sues Lazada over pirated book trading

Nguyen Van Phuoc, CEO of Ho Chi Minh City-based Tri Viet Company, wrote on his Facebook page that the e-commerce platform deceived Vietnamese readers and he filed the lawsuit to the city’s District 1 People's Court.

First News sued Lazada for assuming that this e-commerce platform had assisted consuming fake books and deceiving readers.

Over the past two years, he discovered the platform directly and indirectly consumed a large amount of pirated books that severely affected publisher’s revenue. First News had repeatedly warned Lazada over the issue, he said.

"But Lazada ignored. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country, Lazada was the hub selling fake books of more than 600 titles made by our company," said Phuoc, adding he filed the lawsuit against Lazada, which Chinese Alibaba’s subsidiary on September 4.

Billionaire Jack Ma’s Alibaba owns 90 percent stake in Lazada after investing $3 billion since 2016, Reuters reported.  

Phuoc estimated hundreds million Vietnam dong damage his company had to suffer due to book piracy which has been happening for decades and the damage caused by counterfeiting book trading on the platform was huge. He also refused to disclose the amount of money he wants Lazada to compensate.   

“99 percent of buyers on Lazada did not know the books they bought were pirated, and Lazada failed to provide information about merchants that sell pirated books on the platform,” Phuoc told Vietnam Business Review.

Accusing Lazada and hundreds of Facebook pages assisting in selling fake books, Phuoc said that, in addition to suing, his company has directly sent a letter to the Ministry of Public Security, Publishing Department, Ministry of Information and Communication and other agencies for support.

Lazada representative was quoted on Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper as saying it is ready to cooperate with parties which own the intellectual property rights and protects intellectual property rights on its e-commerce platform.

"Lazada e-commerce platform gathers a large number of Vietnam's leading book publishers and distributors. We respect all applicable laws and regulations, as well as always enforce these regulations," it said in a statement.

The platform said it has been working hard to resolve problems related to intellectual property rights.