Combating Book Piracy with PUF Labels and Holograms

Book piracy and academic fraud present significant threats to education worldwide. Counterfeit textbooks flood the market, while fake diplomas erode trust in qualifications. As publishing increasingly transitions to digital platforms globally, pirates are discovering new methods to exploit vulnerabilities. In response, governments, publishers, and regulatory bodies are adopting innovative technologies. This article examines recent initiatives.

India – Checko giving books a fingerprint The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in India has adopted a strict zero-tolerance policy against textbook piracy. In the past 14 months, authorities have conducted joint raids resulting in seizures of over 500,000 counterfeit NCERT books, along with printing paper and machinery, worth INR 200 million ($2.4 million).

To deter forgers, NCERT will replace watermark paper with Checko – a 3D physically unclonable function (PUF) label that contains a unique cryptographic code. The solution was developed by a team of scientists and researchers from the National Centre for Flexible Electronics (NCFlexe) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur.