By Tim Coronel Australian authors Shaun Tan and Marcus Zusak have been announced as winners in two of the major categories at the Deutsche Jugendliteraturpreis, Germany’s most prestigious awards for children’s and YA books. [Pictured: the display of Shaun Tan’s books at the Frankfurt Book Fair by his German publisher Carlsen] The awards ceremony, held on Friday night as part …
Could This Be the End of Territorial Copyright?
By Andrew Wilkins Frankfurt’s enduring relevance as an international rights fair is built to a great extent on the principle of territorial copyright—that invisible patchwork of rights territories that covers the globe. But what if there was no territorial copyright to enable publishers to safely invest in intellectual property in their own country, safe in the knowledge that another publisher …
Global Trade Talk: Zero Day “Compromise” on Aussie Parallel Import Laws; Stanford Publishing Program Shutters
By Edward Nawotka The Australian reports that Australian Competition Minister Craig Emerson has suggested a new “compromise” with regard to the proposed changes in parallel importation laws. Instead of eliminating import restrictions and forcing publishers to print an international title within 30 days of overseas release, the new plan would keep the import restriction in place, provided publishers put the …
Global Trade Talk: Bookseller Retail Awards; Hachette’s POD Facility; Aussie Book Imports
By Hannah Johnson At The Bookseller Retail Awards last night, almost all of the major retailers nominated for an award walked away with one. At the start of the ceremony, Bookseller editor-in-chief Niell Denny’s announced that the Retail Awards would merge with the British Bookseller Awards in 2010. A highlight among the presenters was Peter Usborne, who presented the award …
The Most Hated Book Down Under
Editorial by Andrew Wilkins MELBOURNE: Australia is a nation of booklovers, but you won’t find many fans for a new Australian paperback, ISBN 9781740372817. In fact, there’s an argument for saying it’s “Australia’s Most Hated Book.” That’s because it’s a report by an Australian Government think-tank, the Productivity Commission, which recommends (among other things) the abolition of the copyright protections …
Bonus Material: Take Our Survey on Australian Copyright Reform
By Andrew Wilkins There is no time frame set for the proposals made by the Australian Productivity Commission to alter copyright protections, as outlined in our lead article, to become law. The next step is for Australia’s Assistant Treasurer to consider the proposal, which he’s indicated he’s in no hurry to do. The ruling Australian Labour Party has announced a …
Bonus Material: How Aussies Find the Best Book Deals
By Edward Nawotka While the recent recommendation by the Australian Productivity Commission seeking to lift the ban on parallel importation ultimately threatens to flood the country with cheap US and UK editions of books — the changes won’t take place for three years. At the moment it is still possible to get reasonably priced editions shipped from overseas. The biggest …