The book market in Russia is threatened by counterfeits and economic slowdown

The paper book market in Russia increased in 2023 by 9% in monetary terms and by 3% in physical terms, Eksmo-AST reported. A significant part of the sales growth was provided by marketplaces, but publishers call them the main channel for the distribution of counterfeit books. Market participants shift part of the blame to foreign authors who refused to distribute books in Russia. Now there is no one to protect their products from pirates. Offline retailers, for their part, accuse online platforms of dumping against the backdrop of a general significant rise in book prices. Publishers’ forecasts for the future are not the most rosy; they expect demand to decline amid a slowing economy.

The commercial market for paper books (excluding educational literature) in Russia in 2023 increased by 9%, to 87 billion rubles, in total, 231 million copies of books were sold (3% more than in 2022), follows from the data “ Eksmo-AST” (combines “Eksmo”, AST, “Mann, Ivanov and Ferber”, “Azbuka-Atticus”), presented on February 14. As in the previous year, growth was driven by online stores – by 25%, to RUB 45.7 billion. Sales in offline retail have fallen. Thus, in the united retail network “Chitai-gorod – Bukvoed” they decreased by 6%, to 14.9 billion rubles, in other book retail – by 4%, to 26.1 billion rubles. In 2022, indicators grew in both categories.

President of Eksmo-AST Oleg Novikov emphasized that the development of the market in 2023 was seriously hampered by piracy, including paper books. According to him, such publications are mainly sold on marketplaces: “It is visually difficult for readers to distinguish a fake from the original publication. They are faced with the fact that the book does not meet basic quality requirements, but it is already quite difficult to refuse it.”

Ozon assured Kommersant that they do not allow counterfeits on the site, respond to complaints from users and copyright holders, and do not allow for sale goods that have been recognized as counterfeit on third-party platforms by decision of government authorities. Yandex Market and Wildberries did not answer Kommersant.

At the same time, Eksmo-AST admits that sales on marketplaces have become the main driver of market growth. The head of the Association of Book Distributors, Svetlana Zorina, believes that electronic platforms “do not comply with the rules of price competition.” Discount programs and discounts of marketplaces in practice exceed 20%, which does not comply with the provisions of the Tax Code on the permissible difference in price, the association emphasized.

Another factor holding back the market in 2023, Mr. Novikov named the decision of a number of foreign authors not to publish in Russia. He said that as a result, their books “are not protected and, in fact, anyone can print new works today.” In particular, Oleg Novikov mentioned Stephen King and JK Rowling. It was their novels, published after the start of the military operation in Ukraine, that were published last year without an ISBN on behalf of the Trophy Book publishing house in Lugansk (see “Kommersant” dated May 2, 2023).

Publishers of illegal translations violate the rights of authors, regardless of their activity or presence in Russia, notes technical director of Freedom Letters Vladimir Kharitonov: “But the police will not initiate anything without a statement, and the Russian publishers of those books by King that are still officially published are not authorized to do this ” Theoretically, Western publishers could initiate proceedings through literary agents, but the expert doubts that they will do this.

In 2024, the paper book market will grow at a slower pace, Eksmo-AST believes: by 8% in money (up to 102 billion rubles) and by 1% in pieces (up to 233 million copies). One of the reasons for the slowdown, they believe, is a drop in consumer demand “against the backdrop of a slowdown in economic growth” in 2024–2025. Mr. Kharitonov notes that the 40% increase in book prices over two years, which ensured the growth of the market in monetary terms, “causes a shock to the average bookstore visitor.”

Yuri Litvinenko