May 20, 2019

Canadian report recommends copyright changes to support local authors

The Copyright Agency welcomes a landmark report from the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage which has backed Canadian authors in their push to reform copyright laws in that country. Copyright Agency CEO Adam Suckling says, “Canadian authors and publishers have endured serious erosions to their livelihoods since 2012 as a result of copyright changes which […]

May 10, 2019

New guides support creation of accessible digital books

The Australian Inclusive Publishing Initiative, supported by Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund, has launched two guides: Inclusive Publishing in Australia and Making Content Accessible. Inclusive Publishing in Australia is an introductory guide for publishers and all those who contribute to the publishing workflow, including editors, proofreaders and indexers. It explains how inclusion and accessibility benefit both the […]

May 7, 2019

Book industry’s stellar night of nights

The 2019 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) were announced on Thursday 2 May at a red carpet Oscars-for-the-bookish event in the Grand Ballroom of Sydney’s International Convention Centre. Debut novelist Trent Dalton cleaned up this year for his literary bestselling triumph Boy Swallows Universe (HarperCollins Australia). Boy Swallows Universe won four Awards – the first book ever to do so; an ABIAs record – […]

May 7, 2019

Getting the backstory on writing and publishing

The Cultural Fund has once again funded Express Media’s Toolkits 12-week mentoring program for writers under 30, underway now in three genres, and seeking applications in early June for two further streams: Poetry and Digital Storytelling. Toolkits helps young writers develop their skills in a unique online environment, with facilitators and guest authors Zoya Patel, Mira Schlosberg,Jennifer […]

May 7, 2019

ACMI CEO to deliver 2019 Brian Johns lecture

The annual Brian Johns Lecture at the State Library of NSW this year features the Director of the Australian Centre for the Moving Image in Melbourne, Katrina Sedgwick, who is about to oversee a $40 million redevelopment of the centre. Katrina has been the Director and CEO of ACMI since early 2015. She has an […]

May 6, 2019

When an artist and an author meet

Sydney artist Evert Ploeg has been illustrating book covers for children’s author, poet and publisher Geoffrey McSkimming since the late 1980s but had only spent limited time with the Cairo Jim chronicles author. When his daughters were around 9 and 6, “we started going to book launches” as they were into McSkimming’s Phyllis Wong books […]

May 3, 2019

Justin Ractliffe awarded 2019 Publisher Fellowship

The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund has awarded a $15,000 Publisher Fellowship to Justin Ractliffe of Hachette Australia at the Australian Book Industry Awards in Sydney. Copyright Agency CEO Adam Suckling says, “The Publisher Fellowship supports the pursuit of innovation and professional development from global experiences that can deliver benefits to the Australian publishing sector.” The […]

April 10, 2019

New four-year schools licence negotiated

A message from the CEO, Adam Suckling Dear Members, I wrote to you at the end of last year about the issues around negotiating new agreements, our disputes before the Copyright Tribunal, and our investment in new systems and services to better serve members. As you know, digital technology continues to change profoundly the way […]