I thought that in the 9th year of the war, when with such efforts we win back the right to belong to a civilized world where copyright and private property are respected, we all understand how important it is to obey the law and not be like our enemy.

It turns out not everyone. So I have to say something.

Book piracy cost the Italian book publishing industry €771 million in 2021, as well as 5,400 jobs.
In 2022, the project created by Ukrainians was fined $7.8 million in the US for book piracy.
Due to book piracy, the publishing market of Ukraine loses enormous amounts of money every year. And these are unpublished books, unwritten novels (authors are also underpaid due to piracy), unopened jobs, unpaid taxes.
The book is a product of intellectual property. In order for the reader to get a quality book, the publisher invests money.
The publisher buys the text of the book from the author or his representative. If a translation is required, the publisher contacts a translator. This work also costs money.
The cover, if it is a foreign title, is bought separately (and the cost can reach 1,000 dollars per cover), or is drawn independently for a fee to the artist.
Therefore, free distribution of an e-book, let alone its sale, without the permission of the copyright holder is piracy.

Amateur translation, amateur audiobook - made available to the public - violation of the law. The desire to use the elements of someone else's well-known cover and make merch based on it (without the permission of the rights holders) and sell books to fans under the guise of popularizing the publication is banal theft.

Yes, you can draw fan art of your favorite character, hang it on the wall to admire, or post it on your social media page so that others can recognize your talent. But if we are talking about the sale of merchandise for books, this must be agreed with the rights holders.

The conditions for the production and sale of merch may differ from different rights holders. Most often, you need to conclude an agreement, pay a considerable advance, and then pay royalties from sales. And the rights holder will set the minimum market value of such a product (the one from which he would like to see a % royalty, so as not to devalue the brand), so such a product will never be cheap.
It can sometimes take months to hear back from the copyright holder, even for approval of the cover or permission to use the title for the free postcard that comes with the book.

Therefore, legal merch in Ukraine will be expensive. But it will definitely happen, because our readers want it.

Vivat tries to track cases of illegal distribution of products that contain our intellectual property. But sometimes we feel like fighters against windmills. Integration of the efforts of all market participants is needed, and most importantly, the reaction of society and readers is needed.
Ukraine has changed a lot. And we should already realize that digital Bolshevism is evil. You have to pay for a product created by someone, so that a new and even better one is created. There should be responsibility for theft. Manipulation and desire to call black as white, illegal distribution as advertising, piracy as small business, this is the way not to the west, but to the north.

What do you think about this, friends? Let's talk about pain.

In the fall, when Kharkiv Oblast was liberated, a mass burial was discovered in the middle of the forest near Izyum. The body of Volodymyr Vakulenko was found in grave number 319.
This is how the "Russian peace" took the son away from his devastated parents. The father has a son with a "special perception of everything around", without which he cannot live.
And a talented Ukrainian writer in Ukraine, which he loved so much.

Volodymyr buried the occupation diary under a young cherry tree in his garden. And he said to his father: "As soon as ours come, give it to them."

The war began on February 24. And on March 24, "Volodymyr was taken away." Undressed. In flip flops. Straight from kindergarten. In total, they came for him three times. People who did not introduce themselves. People who were told that a nationalist lives here...

Today, at 19:00, the documentary "Records under the cherry" about the life and creative path of Volodymyr will be released on the YouTube channel of Suspilne Broadcasting. About his personal fight for the Motherland. About his dreams, which were not destined to come true.
(Trailer for the film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH2-RQ_kDUk)

…I want to forget this war forever.
No.
I want to remember this war forever.
So that it never happens again, so that no one knows what war is.
I want us all to watch as many movies as possible and read as many books as possible about people who will no longer see our victory, but who believed in it so much that they gave their lives for it.

We will sum up all the results after the victory, and now - a few theses about our market and the life of Vivat this year.

The realities of the book publishing business
1. The book market is alive and it is pleasantly surprising. It would seem that who needs these books now, but no, they do. People read, buy books for themselves, for their children, and for their friends.
2. New bookstores are opening. This is a very powerful manifestation of our optimism because book retail is always a niche and not a marginal business.
3. The interest in buying copyrights does not subside. Sometimes Ukrainian publishers offer such sums to foreign publishing houses as if they do not calculate the profit and risks at all. And this despite the fact that banks do not allow payments abroad. And if they miss it, it is not without problems. Can't understand and comment on it. Maybe you can tell me?
4. The prices of books have increased a lot. In my opinion, about 60%. Although the prices have increased, the reader still needs to get used to the average book price of UAH 300.
5. The e-book rushed forward. I think that the significant growth of electronic content will continue in the coming years. Therefore, we are already trying to buy the rights to almost all books, both for paper and digital content.
6. There is an outflow of qualified personnel. People are forced to find work abroad. Unfortunately, some of them will not return to Ukraine after the end of the war. And that's the problem.

Vivat life during the war
1. For the first time in the years of the publishing house's existence, we have been working away from the office for more than 10 months. This is our common pain. It's good that after covid the team already worked remotely and we have some experience, but not for as long (((At a distance, the general vibe, something common and basic is lost.
2. There are problems with the timing of receiving new products. We print our books in Kharkiv, the printing house works only during the day and according to the blackout schedule. Before the invasion, it worked around the clock. So the terms of publication of books are increasing. But, in the end, we will print all the books.
3. We practically did not reduce the number of items compared to last year, and the total circulation did not decrease. And it's just great! I think we managed to achieve this, in particular, by "exiting" the Ukrainian market of Russian-language books.
4. Interest in Ukrainian authors and illustrators abroad has significantly increased. We sold significantly more copyrights this year.

However, foreign publishing houses are still looking for such books that will be relevant in their market, which is quite understandable.

In conclusion, I want to say that the key word for me this year is sustainability.

Sustainability is the new currency. Undoubtedly, everything will be fine with us in the future, but when it will be "good" is still not clear.

Therefore, it will not work to wait, because it is impossible to wait out the crisis...

You need to live on, move forward, protect people and make plans.

And then everything will really be fine.