One-Third Of Hungarians Do Not Care Whether They Read Books Legally Or Illegally

The visitors of the Budapest International Book Festival were asked about their e-book reading habits in a questionnaire. As it is seen from the results, the number of the e-book readers has increased in Hungary. Although 84% of the respondents prefer reading printed books, e-book is regularly chosen due to its cheap price even if it is obtained from illegal sources – index.hu reported. 

The survey was made by the National Board Against Counterfeiting, the Hungarian Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Association and the Intellectual Property Office. The questionnaire was completed mainly by women with university degree (68%). Moreover, 30% of the respondents were between the age of 31 and 44, while 28% of the surveyed were 18-30 years old. Half of the respondents has already read e-book while the remaining half has never used this electronic book. One-third of the readers have some electronic gadget for reading, but only 9% of them use it frequently. According to index.hu, this 9% chose the electronic system because of its cheap price and wide range of availability.

Most of the respondents (84%) prefer choosing the printed version of any book if it is available both in printed and electronic form. However, when we take into consideration those people who has e-book reader, this number will change.

More and more books become available in electronic form in Hungary. Interestingly, one-third of the respondents mentioned that there are only a few books which cannot be purchased online since they are in the market only in printed form.

Furthermore, 42% of those readers who read e-book search both for legal and illegal sources while 43% of the respondents prefer the legal ways. The latter also noted that they download illegally only when there’s no other way to obtain the books. One-third of the surveyed don’t really care whether they use legal or illegal websites or platforms for downloading.

László Péter Zentai, the director of the Association of the Hungarian Booksellers and Publishers noted: „it is shocking that we have to face with the fact that the book-conscious citizens -who also have university degrees – are almost indifferent about how they get their books: from legal or illegal sources. Obviously, we have to raise awareness in all areas of the education that illegal downloading is considered stealing such as shoplifting.

based on article of kotvefuzva.postr.hu
translated by Valentina Leanyfalvi

Photo: konyveszug.blogspot.com

Source: http://kotvefuzve.postr.hu/