Ebooks could represent threat to publishing industry, new figures suggest

E-readers such as the Kindle could actually damage the publishing industry, it's been speculated - after if was revealed that ebook lovers are not averse to downloading the odd unlicensed book.

The news comes courtesy of the Digital Entertainment Survey,  an annual review of consumer behaviour which polled 1,959 consumers about their digital habits. It seems that around 29 per cent of e-reader owners were prepared to admit to ebook piracy, while tablet owners are even more likely to commit copyright theft, with 36 per cent of fessing up to sneaky illegal downloads. What's more, a quarter of those admitting to downloading unlicensed ebooks said they would probably continue to do so.

In particular, it seems that e-readers are encouraging copyright infringement in groups not previously given to it, such as women over 35. Only one in 20 women in that age group have illegally downloaded music, while one in eight e-reader owners in that demographic owned up to having illegally nabbed ebooks - suggesting a terrifying trend for casual copyright infringement in the previously innocent over-35s.

It has been suggested that this news should worry publishing execs, who look at the example of the music industry and its lost revenue, and quake in their boots. The Publishers Association recently revealed figures that showed that total book sales - including ebooks - fell by 3 per cent last year, in spite of the growing popularity of e-readers; but it's hard to attribute all of that decline to digital piracy. 

Let's hope the publishing industry can respond in a grown-up manner to the admittedly fairly serious issue of copyright infringement - and not descend into the paranoid twitchiness seen in some corners of the music biz.