Policy

Well, the battle is over (for now). The Australian Government has today announced that current copyright legislation forbidding parallel importation of books will remain unchanged.

The Australian and Bookseller+Publisher have reported the news and the full statement from Dr Craig Emerson, Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs, can be found here.

I like Sophie Cunningham’s take-home message best:

The rise of e-culture, freemium models, copyleft and open content is already, for better or worse, exuding huge pressure on the local industry. No one has the answers to the many issue that arise and, in a time like this, writers and publishers need the energy and space to begin forging the way ahead, rather than just remaining passive. As Jeff Sparrow from Overland pointed out a while back, ‘we need to go on the offensive. Rather than simply saying, leave us alone, we have to articulate a vision of how we want literature to work.’ The decision today will, hopefully, give us room to do that – to move and experiment and take risks without the roof coming down over our heads. Link to Meanjin

Authors and publishers can count this as a victory, and independent booksellers will be spared increased price competition from retail chains and discount department stores. However, it’s been interesting to observe the Australian book industry tackle this issue over the past year and I’m left hoping we will have an increased appetite for improvements and innovation. Creating the industry structure you want is better, after all, than having one imposed upon you.

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