Crackdown on textbook piracy: Students could face legal action

Students may soon face a court summons and fines if they illegally share digital textbooks.

This is according to the copyright enforcement group RettighedsAlliancen.

»There should be consequences to breaking the law — just like in every other part of society,« Maria Fredenslund, CEO of RettighedsAlliancen, says in the press release.

When more than half still share textbooks illegally, we have to send a clearer signal

Maria Fredenslund, CEO of RettighedsAlliancen

Years of information campaigns have done nothing to stop textbook piracy among students, and the organisation is now preparing to ramp up its enforcement efforts.

The organisation conducts annual surveys through the pollster Epinion, and the latest one from 2025 shows that 57 per cent of students who use digital textbooks have got at least one of them illegally.

The survey shows at the same time that most students are aware that it is illegal. But three out of four of them still find it acceptable anyway.

»When more than half of students still share textbooks illegally, we have to send a clearer signal,« says Maria Fredenslund.

Culture shift needed

Starting 1 February, RettighedsAlliancen is to select cases of illegal sharing of digital textbooks and attempt to bring them before the courts under private prosecution rules in the Danish Copyright Act.

»We don’t want to penalise individuals, but drive a change in behaviour, where students understand that illegal sharing has consequences,« says Maria Fredenslund.

READ ALSO: Students don’t seem to care if it’s theft: »Textbooks are ridiculously expensive«

If the court finds that an infringement of copyright has taken place, the student can be ordered to pay a fine.

RettighedsAlliancen is also turning its attention to educational institutions. The organisation has sent a briefing to all Danish universities and other higher education institutions, calling on them to inform students of their enforcement efforts.

Market under threat

The context of the new initiative, according to RettighedsAlliancen, is market pressure. A study by consultancy firm CphFacilitation estimates that piracy of digital textbooks in 2022 cost the book industry and the government about DKK 225 million — corresponding to 31 per cent of the student textbook market value.

READ ALSO: Textbook piracy is a crime — and half of students are guilty

Henrik Gejlager is director of the Danish publisher Gyldendal Uddannelse and chair of the interest group Danish Publishers educational book committee. The illegal sharing has consequences, he says.

»The extent of illegal sharing among students has reached such a significant scale that it is a real threat to the entire market for Danish textbooks. If this continues, we may find ourselves with no sustainable textbook market in Denmark at all,« he says.

According to the publishing director, the fragile financial underpinning of the market will lead to fewer Danish-language teaching resources and lower teaching quality.

This article was first written in Danish and published on 2 February. It has been translated into English and post-edited by Mike Young.