[Oz-teachers] [Fwd: Government decides on book copyright rules]

[Peter Macinnis]

There has been a small win for sanity!

Now is the time to begin thinking about e-books, but more of that in an 
hour or so.  Suffice it to say that I have been cogitating.

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Regulatory regime for books to remain unchanged

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

Australian book printing and publishing is under strong competitive
pressure from international online booksellers such as Amazon and The
Book Depository and the Government has formed the view that that this
pressure is likely to intensify.

In addition, the technology of electronic books (e-books) like Kindle
Books will continue to improve with further innovations and price
reductions expected.

The Government has not accepted the Productivity Commission's
recommendation to remove the parallel importation restrictions on books.


The Productivity Commission report acknowledged that removing these
restrictions would adversely affect Australian authors, publishers and
culture. The Commission recommended extra budgetary funding of authors
and publishers to compensate them for this loss.

The Government has decided not to commit to a new spending program for
Australian authors and publishers.

Compromise proposals were considered, involving reductions in the length
of the 30-day publication rule and the 90-day resupply rule.

In the circumstances of intense competition from online books and
e-books, the Government judged that changing the regulations governing
book imports is unlikely to have any material effect on the availability
of books in Australia.

If books cannot be made available in a timely fashion and at a
competitive price, customers will opt for online sales and e-books.

Introducing a price cap along the lines of the Canadian system would
increase regulation with questionable effects on book prices.

The Australian book printing and publishing industries will need to
respond to the increasing competition from imports without relying on
additional government assistance.

Media contact: Chris Ward, Minister's Office, 0418 424 654

Many thanks for all your help.

Regards


Liam Bathgate  Director

australian public affairs

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end of forwarded message, which has been trimmed of some irrelevant matters


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