Russian publishing houses are going to publish retellings of foreign books

A number of Russian publishers are planning to circumvent the ban on the release of international bestsellers in the Russian Federation with the help of retellings without direct quoting. About it writes "Kommersant".

Eksmo-AST, in particular, will publish Prince Harry's memoirs Spare in this format. The book will be released on February 16 in audio and electronic formats and in print. The Smart Reading publishing house will also release its version of the summary - the work will appear on February 15 in LitRes.

The Eksmo-AST publishing house considers retelling an alternative to a compulsory license that can “ensure accessibility” of popular non-fiction books for the Russians.

According to the top manager of Eksmo, the group considers the project as an alternative to a compulsory license. In a similar format, the publishing house plans to soon release Jen Sincero's book "Not Noah."

Not all market participants agree with this position, calling this path a “grey scheme”. Lawyers also warn of the risk of penalties if the retelling is close to the original text. And what do you think about this?