The Australian book industry

Do not be fooled by the eloquence of Australian authors. They have been repeatedly arguing that Australian authors deserve a fair profit and that Australian literature has great cultural benefits for many of us. That’s difficult (and slippery) to dispute, but it’s an attempt to reframe the argument over book import laws in a way that stirs emotions.

Unfortunately, such emotions rarely lead to good public policy. The territorial copyright restrictions currently in place are a market distortion, a barrier to trade and the cause of over-inflated book prices paid by consumers. If an author (or their publisher) wants to boost their profits by printing different editions abroad and pricing them differently, why should Australian law permit them to prevent imports of the foreign-market version? If authors and publishers are too scared that cut-price books from abroad will threaten their royalties and profits in the Australian market, they should stop publishing in or supplying to foreign markets. They will continue to have control over this, and retain the copyright to their own work, regardless of any changes in book importation laws. Despite what they may say, the integrity of copyright itself is not at stake.

By restricting imports in such a way, laws against parallel imports cause the price of all books to be much higher than they otherwise would be. This seems to be mostly for the sake of supporting a few Australian authors who, judging by the shrillness of their recent complaints, would otherwise be unable to remain viable. I am sick of having to pay through the nose for books in Australia, or pay high freight costs to buy them online from America.

If consumers valued the work of Australian novelists more than that of other authors, they would be willing to pay more for their books. These writers should stop trying to stir up emotions through the media and focus on writing better books.