New Delhi: Bestselling author Jeffrey Archer, who was once asked by a young boy in Mumbai selling pirated books if he wanted the latest Archer novel, says the Indian government needs to do something about pirating.
“While I’m aware of the tremendous support I receive in India for my books, the government still needs to do something about pirating,” the 75-year-old author says.
“Here’s a classic example – they’re even putting my name on books that I didn’t write,” he said in a post on his blog.
The example he cites is of a pirated version of “Passenger to Frankfurt” in which the author’s name is wrongly mentioned as Archer’s.
“Passenger to Frankfurt” is a spy novel penned by Agatha Christie.
The pirated book’s cover more mistakes.
It says “Passenger to Frankfurt” is the next part of Archer’s “First Among The Equal”.
Whereas Archer’s 1984 novel following the careers and personal lives of four fictional British politicians was named “First Among Equals” and not “First Among The Equal”.
Last year, he also expressed his anger over some Bollywood producers “stealing” his work without making any compensation.
According to him, his novel “Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less” was made into the rom-com “Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl” and “Kane and Abel” into “Khudgarz” without his permission.
“I am naturally unhappy that Bollywood producers steal my work and make no attempt to make any compensation. It’s very disappointing that the Indian government allow them to get away with it. They should of course contact my agent, Jonathan Lloyd at Curtis Brown in London,” Archer had told PTI.
Archer had recently come out with the penultimate book of his popular “Clifton Chronicles”.
Called “Cometh the Hour”, six of its chapters are set in Mumbai. The book’s cover has a couple riding a motorcycle with the Gateway of India at the background.
“As six chapters of the book are set in Bombay, we decided to give the Indians an exclusive jacket cover, which I hope my Indian readers will like,” the author says.
The seventh and final volume of “Clifton Chronicles” series will hit the book stands in November. The title of the book is “This Was a Man” and will be published by Pan Macmillan India.
PTI
