Thousands of authors and illustrators warn over 'devastating' copyright change

Thousands of authors, illustrators and translators have warned against potentially “devastating” changes to UK copyright laws, while the Booksellers Association (BA) has also thrown its weight behind the campaign.

The authors' warning follows the launch of the Save Our Books campaign, run by an alliance of organisations including the Publishers Association (PA), which says government plans to reconsider the UK’s approach to copyright and trade following Brexit could lead to fewer books and fewer authors.

A consultation was launched on 7th June by the Intellectual Property Office, which considers a weakening of copyright rules used for exporting books around the world. Changing the way these rules, known as copyright exhaustion, work would present “serious dangers for the health of the books industry”, the campaign argues.

It says that, because author royalties on export sales are much lower than in the UK market, if authors cannot prevent their copies from around the world being sold back into the UK, an export sale risks eroding the corresponding domestic sale. Approximately two-thirds of author incomes could be at risk on the sale of a book in this scenario, the campaign claims.

Now figures including Kazuo Ishiguro, Bernardine Evaristo, Hilary Mantel, Philip Pullman, Cressida Cowell, David Nicholls, Adam Kay, Reni Eddo-Lodge and Sophie Kinsella are among the 2,661 authors and illustrators who have signed an open letter warning against the proposed changes.

Their letter to Kwasi Kwarteng, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, was published in the Sunday Times at the weekend. It warns: “Weakening the UK’s copyright laws would impair our ability to earn an income which would have a devastating impact on this country’s vibrant, world-renowned book industry. If writing becomes a profession only accessible to the wealthy, important stories will not be told.”

Among its other signatories are Julia Donaldson, Axel Scheffler, Val McDermid, William Boyd, Paula Hawkins, Alice Oseman, India Knight, Hallie Rubenhold, Tim Peake, Naomi Ishiguro, Prue Leith, Carol Ann Duffy, Peter James and Nikesh Shukla.

Stephen Lotinga, c.e.o. of the PA, said: “This letter is a clear and urgent call from authors to avoid an outcome that weakens our copyright laws. Britain is a world-leader in publishing and currently exports more books than any other country in the world. The wrong outcome would jeopardise the whole books industry and vandalise the UK’s cultural landscape. It would mean fewer books, by fewer authors, for fewer readers. We urge the government to Save Our Books.”

The PA says around 3,000 letters have been sent to MPs so far since the start of its campaign. The association told The Bookseller that it is "working hard" on its submission to the government's consultation on behalf of the publishing industry, with Lotinga recently meeting the minister for science, research and innovation Amanda Solloway to discuss the importance of retaining strong copyright laws. The IPO consultation ends on 31st August.

Lotinga said: “The Save Our Books campaign has received a tremendous amount of support from the industry thus far. I want to thank everyone who has written to their MP and shared information about this issue. We’ve not won the argument yet, however, and it’s absolutely vital that everyone who values the UK’s literary future calls on the government to Save Our Books.

“Weakening our copyright laws would result in fewer books, by fewer authors, for fewer readers, and that’s not something anyone who loves books wants.”

The BA also said it would be submitting to the IPO consultation and that its advisory council had discussed the issue on several occasions.

A spokesperson told The Bookseller: "While there are retailers who perceive some benefit from a liberalisation of the exhaustion regime, the majority of booksellers are very supportive of the position of authors and publishers in their lobbying against the weakening of the copyright system." They clarified that the potential benefit to retailers relies on the assumption they will be able to purchase cheaper books from overseas.

Meryl Halls, Booksellers Association m.d., said: “In the current environment, with booksellers having weathered systemic threats and challenges relentlessly for the last 17 months, the last thing we need is more system shock. Brexit is already delivering some very poor outcomes for a number of our members—especially for bookshops in Ireland—and the bookselling community would prefer to see a system continue where authors are remunerated properly, where small and medium-sized publishers are able to invest in new talent and publish boldly, where intellectual property is protected and where we minimise the number of additional advantages being delivered to those companies who would most benefit from a free-for-all; those companies are not, in the main, UK and Irish high street booksellers.”

Last month, leading publishers including Pan Macmillan, Bloomsbury and HarperCollins added their voices to warnings about the government-mooted change to copyright, saying it could "degrade quality" across the trade and is a "concrete threat" to the industry. It is understood most will also be submitting evidence to the consultation, which closes at the end of August.

The open letter in full:

Dear Secretary of State,

We the undersigned are writing to you as authors, illustrators, translators and book lovers to raise our concern about the government’s consultation on copyright.

The UK currently has strong copyright laws which enable creators to be fairly compensated for their work and the UK to export more books than any other country in the world.

Weakening the UK’s copyright laws would impair our ability to earn an income which would have a devastating impact on this country’s vibrant, world-renowned book industry. If writing becomes a profession only accessible to the wealthy, important stories will not be told.

The Intellectual Property Office is currently consulting on the UK’s future exhaustion regime. If they decide to introduce an international exhaustion framework, authors will be unable to limit foreign editions of their books being sold into the UK - undercutting their domestic sales.

Authors, like many creatives, have suffered greatly during the pandemic. This consultation could significantly impact authors' livelihoods, setting them back once again. Another blow to the industry would have a deeply detrimental impact on the UK book trade.

If you turned to reading during lockdown, if you appreciate the cultural, economic and social impact books have on our society, we urge you to make sure the UK avoids an international exhaustion framework and any radical shift to the way the UK book market is able to operate, supporting the recommendations that will be put forward by the organisers of the Save Our Books campaign in their consultation responses. Doing so will allow UK authors to export their books around the world, safe in the knowledge that their UK earnings won’t suffer.

We are asking you to please save our books and ensure the government makes the right choice to support copyright for authors and publishers.