The BREIN Foundation, a Dutch copyright advocate, took action against an individual who uploaded illegally copied Dutch audiobooks for open online access. The case involved a YouTube channel where complete audiobooks of popular Dutch titles such as *Oorlogswinter* could be listened to for free.
The channel’s videos typically had tens of thousands of views and were listened to a total of approximately 1.3 million times.
Further investigation by BREIN led to a man who had also been approached by BREIN for making audiobooks available without authorization on a previous occasion.
Consequently, BREIN decided to demand a cease and desist declaration with a penalty clause from the infringer, resulting in the immediate removal of all audiobooks from the channel. Ultimately, the man settled with BREIN and agreed to permanently cease his infringing activities under penalty of a fine of 500 euros per violation, with a maximum of 50,000 euros. In addition, the costs incurred by BREIN are being reimbursed by the infringer.
Why it matters
“The legal supply of audiobooks suffers from illegal availability on platforms such as YouTube. Due to this unauthorized availability, authors, voice actors, publishers and other rights holders are losing revenue,” said BREIN.
“This comes at the expense of a high-quality and diverse range of audiobooks, and ultimately, the listener is affected as well. There are various fantastic legal apps available for reading and listening to ebooks and audiobooks. The library also offers an app that allows you to borrow ebooks and audiobooks without having to visit the library. Make use of these legal services,” urged BREIN
Further reading
Uploader of illegally offered audiobooks prosecuted. Press release. September 24, 2026. BREIN (Netherlands)
