Publisher Voices Raised For Copyright

If the value of publishing is more broadly appreciated and recognized, the copyright discussions are easier.

Making copyright fit for purpose for the digital world is a popular undertaking for governments– though almost never so for publishers. So-called “reforms” are often little more than thinly-veiled attacks on the fundamental principles of intellectual property and the livelihoods of publishers and authors. Notions of balance seem to have vanished as the scales tip further away from rightsholders.

At the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair, Michael Healy, Executive Director, International Relations, , spoke with Michiel Kolman, President of the International Publishers Association and Senior Vice President for Information Industry Relations, Elsevier. According to Kolman, the critical connection to make for legislators and the public alike is that intellectual property rights make up the foundation of value in publishing.

“I would say overall in the copyright discussion, it [should be] linked to a much broader discussion, and that’s the value of publishing. If the value of publishing is more broadly appreciated and recognized, the copyright discussions are easier. And I think that is an area where we [as publishers] should all invest in,” Kolman explained.

“Whether you’re a trade publisher or a literary publisher or an educational publisher or a science publisher, if the products that we deliver – our books and articles and databases – don’t have that appreciated value, then the copyright discussions are much more complicated,” he told CCC’s Healy.