French Court Blocks More Pirate Site Domains

In September 2024, the Paris judicial court ordered the blocking by ISPs of some 98 domain names for the Z-Library website, which contains millions of pirated books and copyrighted articles from across all publishing sectors.

After a first blocking order was issued in August 2022, attempts were made to r-establish public access to pirated content. Twelve publishing houses worked with the Syndicat National de l'Edition (SNE) in fighting pirate sites like Z-Library:

• Actes Sud
• Albin Michel
• Cairn, Editis
• Hachette Livre
• Humensis
• Lefebvre-Sarrut
• LexisNexis
• Madrigall
• Maison des Langues
• Odile Jacob
• Presses de Science Po

The SNE continues to deploy its strategy against pirate sites, regardless of their size and complexity. Currently, actions against other target sites are under consideration, which should lead to new blocking decisions. They propose that professional bodies call on the Regulatory Authority for Audiovisiual and Digital Communication (ARCOM) to extend the blocking before the courts to any subsequentially used domain name.

Book piracy not only undermines the remuneration of authors and publishers but poses an even greater threat to the book ecosystem, especially evident amongst booksellers. More than ever, they argue, fighting against book piracy has become a priority for all publishers. The SNE, therefore, is invested in defending the interests of an entire profession.

About the Syndicat National de l'Edition

SNE is a professional body representing French publishers with over 730 members and is chaired by Vincent Montagne and managed by Renaud Lefebvre. Its mandate is to promote collective action to build the future of publishing, copyright freedom, regulate book prices, and address cultural diversity. SNE also contributes to promoting books and reading.

To access their homepage, click here.