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Photo: Medium . |
Audiobooks have been the fastest-growing segment in the international digital publishing industry for the past five years. Audiobook sales reached $2.22 billion in 2024, a 13% increase year-on-year. In the first five months of 2025, audiobook sales increased by 3.1%, reaching $412.2 million . These figures would be significantly higher if not for the widespread problem of copyright infringement.
YouTube - A haven for audiobook piracy.
In fact, copyright infringement has always been a concern for publishers and many global book associations. In 2023, a sales survey by the Audiobook Publishers Association, conducted by the consulting firm Toluna Harris Interactive, showed that audiobook piracy is becoming a serious problem for the industry.
Twenty-eighth of those who listened to audiobooks in 2024 said they received free audiobooks through YouTube or other sharing websites. Readers can also access free audiobooks on YouTube or other sharing websites.
Meanwhile, Edison's 2024 data shows that 35% of audiobook readers have streamed their books to YouTube, up from 27% in 2023. One of the top reasons for using YouTube is the ease of streaming editions, and the platform also has a vast selection of free audiobooks available, much of which is pirated.
Readers can find audiobooks of all the bestselling books from famous authors and the world's five largest publishers.
So what is the reason for this serious copyright infringement? Google has long developed Content ID, a large-scale, automated digital copyright identification and management system on YouTube. This system automatically scans and compares uploaded videos against a database of "digital fingerprints" provided by copyright owners. Therefore, music or video owners can send warnings or revoke revenue from accounts that illegally distribute their copyrighted content.
However, Content ID does not have a function to check the copyright of digital audiobooks. This is because authors and publishers typically do not distribute their audiobooks on YouTube, but instead put them on platforms where they can monetize them.
Popular distribution platforms today include Audible, Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Everand, and Spotify. As for YouTube, since they are not the original copyright holders, they cannot know who the original copyright owners are in order to manage copyright effectively.
Publishers will have to search for and report infringements themselves, something they rarely do, and given the current level of infringement, it's difficult to do it all. Therefore, YouTube is currently the "wild west" for audiobook piracy.
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Publishers are seeking ways to detect copyrighted audiobooks on various platforms. Photo: Publishers Weekly. |
Audiobook copyright infringement is being fueled by AI.
This situation is becoming increasingly serious with the development of AI.
One of the most appealing ways to monetize audiobooks on YouTube is by hosting numerous ebooks that haven't been professionally recorded and released by major publishers. These ebooks can then be quickly converted into audiobooks using AI. One of the most popular tools currently available is ElevenLabs, an AI software that provides audiobook narration in 29 languages, allowing users to control both voice and intonation.
Even Spotify has recently partnered with them to produce new audiobooks.
Another commonly used tool is Bookfab AI, which allows users to quickly and easily convert text into audio files. This advanced software costs $59.99 and lets users choose from 20 different voice samples for audiobook reading.
In addition, there are dozens of other free and paid services that use AI and voice-generated audio that sounds quite good.
With such popularity, the consumption and number of AI-narrated audiobooks have increased. However, according to Edison Research's 2025 report, readers do not seem to be very satisfied with AI-narrated audiobooks. Willingness to try AI-narrated audiobooks has been declining year by year, from 77% in 2023 to 70% in 2025.
Given the ease with which ebooks can be pirated, with unauthorized copies found on Reddit, Mobilism, Pirate Bay, Z-Library, Anna's Archive, and numerous other websites, the likelihood of them being converted into audiobooks is very high. This situation cannot change without more decisive management action from major platforms.
Source: https://znews.vn/youtube-va-nan-vi-pham-ban-quyen-sach-noi-post1653822.html
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