Indian Publishers Step Up Fight Against Organised Book Piracy

Major Indian publishers intensify efforts against book piracy as raids uncover illegal printing operations and thousands of pirated books.
on Aug 11, 2026

Indian Publishers Unite to Tackle Book Piracy

Book piracy has become a grave issue for the Indian publishing sector, and now leading publishers are joining hands to combat the menace of piracy, especially that of organised groups engaged in printing and distributing pirated copies of books.

The most recent action has been led by Penguin Random House India, Simon & Schuster India, and Hay House in conjunction with the police who raided two sites in New Delhi.

There was a site equipped with tools necessary to reproduce books in a large volume, including photocopiers, bookbinding machines, cutting and lamination machines, and computers employed in the reproduction process. The other site had more than 1,600 pirated copies of books. In total, two individuals were apprehended.

The books seized in the course of the operation included some popular international and Indian market releases such as James Clear's Atomic Habits, Colleen Hoover's It Starts with Us, Lauren Roberts' Powerful, Taylor Jenkins Reid's The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Rhonda Byrne's The Secret, and Banu Mushtaq's Heart Lamp which received the International Booker Prize in 2025.

The mentioned operation constitutes the third major operation and is special since it is the first raid that was conducted against the print-on-demand company. The development of print-on-demand technology poses additional problems for the publishing industry since pirate companies can produce books using not only traditional illegal printing facilities.

This is the latest move after a large operation carried out in Delhi back in March. Penguin Random House India, Simon & Schuster India and Hay House collaborated with Delhi Police Crime Branch for a raid at an illegal book printing and distribution outfit in Rohini. More than 20,000 pirated books were confiscated and the printer press shut down.

Publishers have cited that piracy of books is not just about money lost from sales. It affects the quality of the book with incomplete and inaccurate texts, and robs authors, publishers and others in the business of their rightful income.

According to Jyoti Taneja, who was the lawyer representing Penguin Random House India in the matter, the latest raid was a significant move in terms of breaking up the piracy structure. This view is shared by the Simon & Schuster India Managing Director Sanjiv Gupta, who says that the customers who buy books through piracy channels cannot expect to get genuine, complete, or high-quality products.

This coordinated effort by the Indian publishers shows that publishers have started viewing book piracy not as individual events but as an organized commercial activity. With illegal parties using advanced technologies and focusing on commercially successful titles, publishers will definitely collaborate with the investigating agencies to safeguard their copyrighted material and the entire industry of publishing.