Print workers and employers have urged the federal government to reject a proposal to scrap copyright laws for books that would cost thousands of jobs.
AMWU National Print Secretary, Lorraine Cassin, said that the recommendation, made by the Productivity Commission, had completely ignored the evidence in its own report.
“The key issue for us is jobs and a viable printing industry in Australia. If these changes are made, publishers and authors will lose their rights in Australia, and overseas versions of their books will be imported. That would cause several major printers to potentially go out of business and even more jobs go at paper mills and other connected businesses.
Delegate Robert Jackson from McPherson’s Printing in Maryborough, said he was one of 350 workers whose lives were in limbo while federal MPs made up their mind what to do with the proposal.
“We’re tyring to do a new collective agreement now, but we’re not sure what the future of the business is. Most people are holding off on holidays and all sorts of things waiting to see if what will happen.”
The commission began its report 12 months ago and closed submissions in January this year. Despite this its recommendations were only released 6 weeks ago.
“It’s just hanging over everybodies’ heads”, said Gordon Wilson, a delegate from Griffin Print in Adelaide, where just under 200 printers are employed.
Currently, to be able to claim copyright on a book, Australian publishers have a maximum of 30 days to produce an Australian version of a book that has been published overseas. After that, books can be imported without breaching copyright.
This protects Australian authors who sell their books to US and UK markets from having surplus copies that don’t pay royalties to authors imported, but it ensures consumers do not have to wait months or years for overseas titles to be available in Australia.
The productivity commission wants the 30 day rule gone and has predicted that this will make some books cheaper.
An internal Labor Party report concluded that the commission had not provided sufficient evidence of this claim, while publisher’s have warned that the Australian industry will be decimated if the laws change.
The issue is further complicated because of the range of factors - such as books available on Amazon.com, transport costs, and variance in currency exchange rates that will affect the price of books to consumers.
“There are a lot of interests pushing their cause, but the most important thing for the government to think about should be Australian jobs and Australian culture”, Ms Cassin said.
“It is clear that jobs will be lost and authors will have a much tougher time earning an income if these laws change. This recommendation has been made without a legitimate process where industry participants can sit down and work together to handle some of the issues that have been raised.”
Griffin Printing manager, Ben Jolly, who was also part of the delegation, said that companies had made significant investment in technology and needed to continue to do so, but were holding off while they waited to see what the government did.
The delegations’ key message to MPs was to reject the proposal and instead get government to work with stakeholders to improve the printing and publishing industry through a co-operative industry body.