Gangster State: PRH will take legal action against illegal distribution

25 April 2019

Penguin Random House is appalled by the ongoing illegal distribution of a pirated PDF of Gangster State, which is widely being disseminated on social media. It is of even more concern that prominent individuals appear to encourage this unlawful activity.

The distribution of pirated copies of Gangster State by Pieter-Louis Myburgh infringes our copyright as well as that of the author, and it is unlawful in terms of the Copyright Act of 1976.

We wish to make clear to the public that the only way to obtain an ebook legally is to buy it from an ebook retailer or to borrow it from an authorised ebook library. Any copying or distribution of a pirated ebook, or any forwarding of a link to the pirated ebook, is unlawful. We will take legal action against individuals who are circulating pirated copies, which may include criminal complaints once we have collected all the necessary information.

Pieter-Louis Myburgh said: “There is clear copyright legislation in place that should protect authors from piracy. It is astonishing that a senior political leader and a top legal professional are amongst those who seem to encourage the sharing of illegal copies of Gangster State on a public platform like Twitter.”

We thank those individuals who have taken a stand in deleting the pirated copy and who instead have bought the book or the legal ebook.

Issued by Surita Joubert on behalf of PRHSA, 25 April 2019