Who is threatening the future of the university textbook and Arab knowledge?
Amman2 min read
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The university textbook industry is facing a worsening crisis that goes beyond declining sales, affecting the rights of authors and publishers and the sustainability of Arab knowledge production, in light of the spread of university slides, the circulation of books in PDF format via WhatsApp groups, and their unauthorized copying and sale, alongside the challenges posed by artificial intelligence.
In many cases, slides have turned from a teaching aid into a substitute for the textbook, while the circulation of electronic files and the spread of pirated copies have allowed content to reach large numbers of students without purchasing original copies, which weakens the ability of publishers to recover production costs and continue publishing scientific books.
With the development of artificial intelligence, challenges are expanding due to its ability to summarize books, rephrase their content, and produce alternative educational materials. The problem does not lie in the technology itself, but in the necessity of regulating the use of published content and ensuring respect for intellectual property rights and legal licenses.
The decline of the academic publishing industry does not only harm authors and publishers, but extends to printing houses, bookstores, and workers in the sector, and may limit the production of Arab scientific references and increase reliance on imported content.
Protecting the university textbook is a shared responsibility that requires clear university policies, providing paper and digital books at affordable prices, curbing unauthorized copying and distribution, establishing fair frameworks for the use of content in artificial intelligence applications, and enhancing cooperation between universities, publishers, and technology companies.
We are not against digital development or artificial intelligence, but rather for employing them to serve education and knowledge, within a system that balances the student's right to access knowledge and the author's and publisher's right to protect their intellectual output.
The time has come to move from warning to action; protecting the book industry is not only a defense of commercial interests, but of education, the economy, job opportunities, and the future of Arab knowledge.
For the book whose right to production we do not protect today, we may lose the ability to produce tomorrow.
*Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab Publishers Association
