News

The Government has decided not to change the Australian regulatory regime for books introduced by the previous Labor government.

Bendigo Federal MP Steve Gibbons will attend and speak at a protest rally in Melbourne on Wednesday, November 11 as the campaign against changes to territorial copyright laws affecting the book publishing and printing industries gains pace.

Australians will be able to buy digital books over the counter at bookstores from next year using a digital distribution system constructed for Australian book publishers.

Printing Industries has accused the Federal Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs, Craig Emerson of a “sham” in attempting to retain the territorial copyright provisions in name while ending the 30-day rule.

Author Robyn Webb reviews the Productivity Commission’s report on Australian territorial copyright on books and finds it wanting. ‘the logic and research in the Report is flawed, uses selective reasoning and has been cooked-up to serve the interests of a marginal group of stakeholders,” Robyn concludes. See full report

The Productivity Commission’s response to a critical analysis of its report on book copyright shows it is getting increasingly desperate to defend its discredited price analysis, Australian publishers said today.

Australian bookbuyers are getting a great deal with the new Dan Brown book, The Lost Symbol, released today.

This study reviews the report ‘Restrictions on the Parallel Import of Books' by the Productivity Commission of the Australian government(henceforth: report).It is concluded that the report provides an insufficient basis for a policy reform as it does not collect the information about the relevant market that is necessary for an evaluation of the status-quo and economic impact of alternative policy proposals.

Two leading international economists have questioned the report by the Productivity Commission which recommends abolishing Australian territorial copyright for books.

“The Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, has poured cold water on the Productivity Commission’s recommendations on abolition of Australian territorial copyright for books."

A decision by the ALP Conference in Sydney establishing a working group to examine the Productivity Commission’s recommendations to end territorial copyright has been welcomed by Printing Industries.

The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) welcomes yesterday’s resolution of the ALP National Conference “that the Government should give priority to encouraging Australians to keep on buying Australian books and to maximising the economic, cultural and creative viability of Australian literature and Australian book industries”.

Media Release: 30 July 2009 Australian publishers have welcomed a decision by the ALP’s National Conference to set up a working group to report to the Federal Government on the Productivity Commission recommendation to abolish territorial copyright for books.

Media Release: 21 July 2009 The Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences today said the Productivity Commission's recommendations to reduce copyright protection for publishers and authors were of great concern.

Media Release: 20 July 2009 The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, Labor Ministers, the National Party, Independents and Greens have been targeted in a campaign launched by Printing Industries Association of Australia (Printing Industries) to head off the Productivity Commission recommendations to end territorial copyright.

Media Release: 14 July 2009 The Printing Industries Association of Australia (Printing Industries) has condemned the recommendations contained in the final report of the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into book copyright provisions released today.

Media Release: 28 April 2009 The Printing Industries Association of Australia (Printing Industries) has strongly advocated the retention of the 30-day rule in its final submission to the Productivity Commission's current inquiry into restrictions on the parallel importation of books.

Press Release: 24 March 2009 Printing Industries has slammed the Productivity Commission’s draft recommendations to remove restrictions on the parallel importation of books and has branded them a prescription for being ‘half pregnant’.

Press Release: 16 July 2008 Printing Industries' CEO Philip Andersen has confirmed that the Association will oppose any Federal Government attempts to remove the 30 day rule.

Press Release: July 14 2009 The Australian Literary Agents’ Association (ALAA) is not surprised by the findings of the Productivity Commission in their report on the Restrictions on the Parallel Importation of Books into Australia released today.

Media Release: 14 July 2009 The Australian Academy of the Humanities (AAH) and the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia(ASSA) today responded with concern to the Productivity Commission’s proposal to remove Parallel Import Restrictions that provide some buffer for local authors, publishers and local booksellers against the overwhelming force of global content and commercial power.

Media Release: 14 July 2009 Australian publishers say the Productivity Commission’s plan to abolish territorial copyright for Australian books is a triumph of arid, free-market dogma over evidence, and that it would cause great damage if accepted.

Media Release: 14th July 2009 Australian Booksellers Association CEO, Malcolm Neil said that the productivity commission appear to have listened to only a small segment of the market, and that their lack of response to bookseller concerns leaves them frustrated and disappointed.

The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) rejects the findings of the Productivity Commission on the Parallel Importation Restrictions of Books into Australia.

Media Release: 25 June 2009 Australian book publishers today asked Federal MPs and Senators to closely examine claims by booksellers Dymocks, Wesfarmers and Woolworths about UK and Australian book prices.

Media Release: 22 June 2009 Claims by bookseller Dymocks about UK and Australian prices for Tim Winton’s award-winning book Breath are deceptive, say Australian book publishers.

Saturday 23 May 2009 "Bob, I’m sorry, on this issue you’re wrong".

click below to view video

Media Release Sunday, 24 May 2009 I am reminded standing here of my cousin, Arthur ‘Mad Dog’ Kemp, a professional boxer of falling note in the late 1960s, who featured occasionally on the Golden gloves tv show, and who was once described by the old Melbourne Sun as ‘having taken the once noble art to a new all time low’.

Media Release 10 May 2009 An independent economic study has shown that Australian book copyright changes proposed by the Productivity Commission failed in New Zealand.

Media Release 6 May 2009 Extension of final reporting date

author Garth Nix and Don Grover from Dymocks

Media Release 24 April 2009 An international book price survey has undermined claims that Australian book copyright rules put upward pressure on Australian book prices.

News Release: 19 April 2009Almost 6,000 people have signed an online petition opposing moves to change Australian book copyright rules.

Media Release Arpil 2 2009 Australia’s extraordinary success story in children’s books is threatened if the Productivity Commission recommendations on changes to copyright law are accepted by the Federal Government.

Media Release 23 March 2009 It’s a tried and true maxim -- and why the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) rejects the findings of the Productivity Commission into restrictions on parallel importation of books. The Commission’s draft report calls for an open market for books 12 months after publication and abolition of the current 90-day rule governing resupply.

Media Release: 20 March 2009 Australian book publishers said today that the Productivity Commission’s recommendations on book imports, issued yesterday, are unworkable and destructive.

Media Release 19 March 2009 Australian book prices kept competitive with prices in the UK, US and via the internet in February, according to a survey released today by the Australian Publishers Association.

Media Release 5 March 2009 Australian book publishers have welcomed Victoria and South Australia's backing for territorial copyright for books.

Media Release 5 February 2009 Australian book publishers have welcomed the decision by the Australian Booksellers Association (ABA) to support territorial copyright for books.

Media Release 27 February 2009 ‘For the second month in a row, a comparison of the cost of bestselling books in Australia, the US, UK and via on-line bookseller Amazon.com shows Australian prices are often cheaper,’ Maree McCaskill, CEO of the Australian Publishers Association, said today.

Media Release 22 January 2009 Claims that law changes will bring cheaper books are a fiction An analysis of Christmas bestseller lists shows Australian book prices are often cheaper than in the USA, UK and from Amazon.com.

News Release 18 January 2009 South Australian printing industry jobs will be “at fatal risk” if the Federal Government goes ahead with moves to change copyright law on books.

The Australian Financial Review, 5 January 2009 Leading lights of Australian literature are warning against moves to relax import restrictions that major booksellers argue could dramatically reduce the price consumers pay for books.

The Age, 3 January 2009 Scribe Publications boss, Henry Rosenbloom said Christmas had been better than expected.

The Australian, 20 December 2008 Responses to an article by Bob Carr, Board member of Dymocks Books regarding the Productivity Inquiry.

Media Release, APA, 23 December 2008 Media Release, APA, 23 December 2008: There will be fewer Australian books in Christmas stockings from next year if a push to change Australia’s copyright laws is successful, says Australian Publishers Association chief executive Maree McCaskill.

The Adelaide Advertiser, 24 December 2008 There will be fewer Australian books in Christmas stockings from next year if a push to change Australia’s copyright laws is successful, says Australian Publishers Association chief executive Maree McCaskill.

The Australian, 27 December 2008 Responses to an article by Bob Carr, Board member of Dymocks Books regarding the Productivity Inquiry.

The Courier Mail, 3 January 2009 Readers will be treated to a bumper offering of quality books this year, writes Madeline Healy

Media Release: 14 June 2009 Exchange rates drive book prices A new study of book price differences between Australia, the UK and the US has shown that prices are driven by exchange rate movements, not copyright rules.