Writer Son Tung's family requests clarification of the "pirated" book "Blue Lotus" that appeared at the International Book Fair.

Writer Son Tung's family has requested clarification on the matter of the work Blue Lotus being "illegally printed" with the logo of Women's Publishing House (2010) and being sold at the 5th International Book Fair - 2015 taking place at Thong Nhat Park (September 10-14).

Mr. Bui Son Dinh, son of writer Son Tung, said: “The novel Blue Lotus was first published in March 1982 at Kim Dong Publishing House, and the author of the book, my father, has entrusted the exploitation rights to Kim Dong Publishing House from then until now. In case any publishing house wants to publish Blue Lotus, it must discuss and get the consent of Kim Dong Publishing House.”

According to Mr. Dinh, in 2010, writer Son Tung fell seriously ill and was bedridden. From then on, his wife was the one to decide everything. Since falling ill, in addition to his salary and disability benefits, writer Son Tung and his wife have only been able to rely on the income from royalties from Kim Dong Publishing House's annual reprinting of the novel Blue Lotus.

Mr. Dinh said: “When I learned about this incident, my family and I felt very sad because this is a large international book fair but pirated books were being sold because since then, my mother has not signed a contract with any other publisher. I hope the press will clarify the incident so that my father's brainchild will not be used indiscriminately by other units.”

In addition to discovering the "pirated" novel Blue Lotus with the Women's Publishing House logo on sale at this year's International Book Fair, Mr. Dinh also added that currently, many bookstores in Hanoi are still selling the publication "Blue Lotus" with the Women's Publishing House logo (2010), with the film clearly stating: 1,000 copies printed, 13 x 19 cm in size, at the Survey and Construction Company printing house. Publishing license number: 108/1432-XB-QLXB.250-PN.

The book Blue Lotus is labeled Women's Publishing House.

Talking to Lao Dong, Ms. Khuc Thi Hoa Phuong, Director of Women's Publishing House, said: "I have received information reflecting on this issue but have not yet had the book in hand so have not conducted a specific investigation, moreover, I have not had time because I am preparing for the new book fair. As soon as I have the work in hand, Women's Publishing House will send an official dispatch to the relevant departments and conduct verification. Currently, illegal printing of books is very common, we also want to cooperate with major publishing houses to conduct a verification in the near future. If this incident is true, we will sue any unit that illegally prints the Women's Publishing House logo, because for a long time Women's Publishing House has not published works by writer Son Tung."

It is known that in 2014, the authorities and the press discovered a large-scale pirated book case bearing the logo of Thoi Dai Publishing House. This year, pirated books appeared again at the 2015 International Book Fair. Previously, the authorities also discovered and confiscated the Blue Lotus publication when conducting a surprise inspection at Nam Lien Bookstore (July 2015).

According to Laborer