KABUL (SW): The copyright law has played vital role in reviving the country’s publishing industry but some unfair competition was still hindering the progress, Afghan publishers said during an exhibition in the capital on Saturday.
A five-day book fair was launched in the Jada-e-Aasmai area to promote the book reading trend. The show has a wide range of readable material available for display and sale.
Dr. Ajmal Aazim, Deputy of the Afghanistan Publishers’ Association, said on the occasion that the industry has been witnessing a positive change for the past many years now. He said the improvement came when former president Hamid Karzai inked the law of copyright. Since 2008 copyright in Afghanistan has been governed by the law on the support the right of authors, composers, artists and researchers.
“The law has encouraged writers and publishers to a great deal, it has not only paved the way for more publication but also helped the country participate in various international book fairs”, Aazim said. He recalled that Afghanistan won first position in Tehran International Book Fair twice, once in 2014 and once in 2012.
The APA deputy however, regretted that book reading trend was not flourishing the way it should have. As per his knowledge, some 150 private and 3 state owned publishing houses were functional in Afghanistan. They meet around 95 percent of local demand, he said.
The fact that a bulk of text books are still being printed outside the country haunts many local publishers.
Publishers argued that substandard books being published in neighboring Pakistan were giving tough time to the local publishing industry to compete on price. Zakia Mirzai, a private publisher told SW that government’s support was crucial in this regard.
“If the government remained reluctant we would remain dependent on low quality books”, Mirzai said.
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