On 23 April, the world celebrates books, in the words of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), as "one of the most beautiful inventions for sharing ideas and embodying an effective instrument to fight poverty and build sustainable peace.”

A calmer but still bustling Day 3 which was no less important for IPA with the announcement of the 2023 IPA Prix Voltaire shortlist and a vital session on ‘lawfair’ that stifles freedom of expression.

Day 2 of London Book Fair kicked off in two places for IPA. At the fair, IPA President, Karine Pansa, welcomed the Mayor of London for his opening keynote. Just outside the Fair, IPA Vice President, Gvantsa Jobava, was welcoming the IPA’s Copyright Committee, which is chaired by Jessica Sänger and had much to discuss following recent copyright developments around the world. 

Pansa welcomed Khan and his commitment to both London as an international level cultural hub and a more environmentally respectful city. She underlined the dual nature of publishing in tackling the climate crisis - through the books it publishes and the way publishers conduct themselves as businesses. Khan, speaking in conversation with Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association, was keen to underline the need for urgent actions and that Mayors of cities in many countries could be ‘doers’. He spoke of his forthcoming book as a sort of guidebook to move from fatalism and apathy to a action focused approach.

Sustainability was on the Main Stage programming with Sustainability in Books Publishing – What has Been Achieved to Date and What Still Needs to be Done? Back at the Sustainability lounge, there was an update on the progress of the 2030 Accelerator - an initiative of multiple individual publishers and service providers looking to make concrete progress on a number of sustainability issues by June this year. Jörg Engelstädter summarised the session as sharing ideas about the sustainability impact of a book. No two books are the same and not every book is a sustainably produced book.

The Copyright highlight of the day was the prestigious Charles Clark Memorial Lecture. A cooperation between the IPA, FEP, the Publishers Association, the CLA and PLS, the lecture celebrates the memory of the brilliant Charles Clark who spent much of his career focusing his critical mind on the intersection of copyright and technology. 

This year’s lecture was delivered by Dr Andres Guadamuz. In a fascinating (if Llama infested) lecture, Dr Guadamuz had the opportunity to evoke the work of Charles Clark when considering different copyright regimes around the world, noting Clark’s involvement in the development of the CDPA (1988). In his self-deprecating style as an AI TDM Copyright geek whose underground band just became famous, he focused on the questions around authors, authorship and what works can be protected. He shared his belief that licensing would be the solution to limiting litigation, particular around the content used to train AI systems, although he recognized that case law in different jurisdictions could impact that. It was a thoroughly successful lecture and Q&A to a standing room only Focus Theatre.

Day 1 of London Book Fair definitely went off with a bang for IPA.  This year’s Fair has multiple stages with an excellent range of programming featuring a number of IPA members.

Easter week, considered from Palm Sunday to Easter itself, is a national holiday in Mexico. Usually, a quiet time to rest and to reflect, however, this year it was rather uneasy, due to some shocking news: on Sunday, April 2, the former Dean of the University of Guadalajara, president of the Guadalajara International Book Fair, FIL, and dear friend of Mexican publishers, Raúl Padilla, passed away in his home.

Following three years of litigation in the critical copyright case Hachette Book Group, et al, v. Internet Archive, we now have a strong and favorable result.  In granting summary judgement for the publisher plaintiffs, Judge Koeltl resolved all four fair use factors in the Copyright Act against the Internet Archive (IA). The opinion, issued a week ago on March 24, 2023, can be found here. 

When we talk to decision makers about the IPA’s dual policy pillars of copyright and freedom to publish, or about the publishing sector more generally, it can quickly become obvious that we need to specify what we mean by ‘publishing’ — how there are many kinds of publishers.

The chair opened the last day of SCCR43 noting the sense of excitement in the room and the ‘spicy’ discussions around exceptions and limitations. 

Education and research was the opening topic for discussion on day 4 of SCCR 43 with a Presentation on cross-border issues concerning education and research.

Day 3 of the SCCR was dedicated to the discussion around exceptions and limitations focusing mainly on the preservation toolkit.

Day 2 picked up from where day 1 left off with Member States asking questions of the facilitators of the Second Revised Draft Text for the WIPO Broadcasting Organizations Treaty.

Hot on the heels of the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, a different kind of gathering for IPA - the 43^rd sitting of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO’s) Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) in a fine, but cloudy, Geneva. 

IPA past President, Ana María Cabanellas, shares her first post for the IPA's literacy working group within the Inclusive Publishing and Literacy Committee.

Two years ago, on this sad day, our publishing colleague, Lebanese publisher, Lokman Slim was assassinated. Lokman co-founded Dar Al-Jadeed publishing house in Lebanon with his sister, Rasha Al Ameer.

The theme for UNESCO’s 2023 International Day of Education is ‘to invest in people, prioritize education’. I know what UNESCO Is getting at, but I would argue that their statement could easily be turned around: ‘in order to prioritize education we need to invest in people.’

What a feeling - the exhilaration (and a little relief after chairing the programming committee) – following the end of the 33^rd International Publishers Congress. After nearly 2 years of preparations we had over 600 delegates and speakers registered from 63 countries to Jakarta to discuss, dissect, analyse and celebrate our international publishing sector. 

UNESCO’s World Book Capital City programme is one of the most acclaimed international literary projects. Various cities from different parts of the world strive to win this honorable status annually. The project originated Madrid. Six years after the launch of World Book and Copyright Day (April 23), IPA President, Pere Vicens had the idea, inspired by the successful experience of the city of Madrid, to nominate the best city programme aimed at promoting books during the period between one "Book Day" and the next.

At Frankfurt Book Fair, I was really happy to present a prototype for a carbon label for books as part of the presentation of the Publishing 2030 Accelerator during IPA’s Sustainability Summit.

September 8 is UNESCO’s International Literacy Day intended to ‘remind the public of the importance of literacy as a matter of dignity and human rights, and to advance the literacy agenda towards a more literate and sustainable society.’

After the sunny days of summer, we should probably begin the fall publishing season by thinking about the positive outcomes that literacy promises us; thinking about those hopes that a literate society will hold onto; thinking about those books that are vitally important to readers in these challenging times of pandemic and war; thinking about those books that readers expect from us—the publishers. The world is moving faster than ever. Can we keep up? Can we still satisfy and surprise our readers?

In my region – the so-called post-Soviet space, currently in focus due to the ongoing brutal war in Ukraine – representatives of the cultural sector are often asked: "Should culture interfere with politics?!"

Answers vary but we cannot escape our recent experience of the nature, price, and consequences of the dictatorship we have lived through, fought, broken its strong walls, and emerged, scarred, from the ruins. This region knows that such regimes target the ability to think freely in order to achieve their objectives. People living here clearly understand that under dictatorships, politics will never ignore culture; they will never let it grow into an island of freedom. Dictatorship strives for "order". Freedom causes diversity, a kind of "disorder", which is vitally important for art but potentially disastrous for dictatorship. Therefore, a logical question arises: how can culture ignore such a dangerous opponent as politics?!

In reality, culture does not ignore politics. For centuries human minds have fought against slavish obedience and for the main purpose of human existence—continuous creation, continuous development, and continuous innovations. Bringing our learnings to the written page through books is a historic part of forming healthy societies but also the fight against the book and literacy. It is why two important focus areas of the International Publishers Association are so relevant: the freedom to publish and literacy. In the post-Soviet space (and other similar regions), independent thought and literacy are expected of people to resist relapse. Dictators in waiting imagine: "Once conquered, easily conquered again." But is this possible with people who have seen slavery, then tasted freedom, and have personally experienced the good and the bad of two completely different lifestyles?!

There is no doubt of the importance of the wider publishing sector for society. We contribute not only to the development and preservation of our cultural identity, fostering empathy, understanding and knowledge but as a sector we contribute to the economic development and jobs of millions across the globe. Gathering an accurate picture of what the publishing sector looks like from an international perspective is one of the biggest challenges that the IPA has been working on for the past five years.