The Australia Council has today released a summary of the 2022 National Survey of Australian Book Authors, which provides valuable insights into the conditions faced by authors. The survey was conducted by Paul Crosby, David Throsby and Jan Zwar from Macquarie University and supported by funding from the Australia Council and the Copyright Agency’s Cultural […]
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Indigenous Literacy Day aims to raise awareness and funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF), which supports remote Communities across Australia to shape their children’s literacy future. This year’s theme is Celebrating Stories, Cultures and Languages, highlighting the importance of sharing knowledge through First Nations storytelling and language, and of keeping 65,000 years of culture […]
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Diana Reid ‘s Love and Virtue (Ultimo Press) has won Book of the Year at the 2022 Australian Book Industry Awards, held on Thursday 9 June at the ICC Sydney .The prestigious award was this year presented by Lisa Wilkinson.
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The Australian book industry’s most exciting day of the year will arrive on Thursday 9 June. The 2022 BookUp Conference, and the Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) will take place back-to-back, once again at the ICC Sydney.
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Brisbane Writers Festival (BWF) celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2022! If you missed the in-person festival, which finished on 8 May, you can engage with their online series. Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund is again supporting the online Author/Editor Series and a new Author-Illustrator Series (together with Booktopia). The successful ten-part Author/Editor series is a partnership […]
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Copyright Agency is partnering with Macquarie University and the Australia Council for the Arts on a new national survey of Australian authors. The findings will be released later this year. All published Australian authors are eligible to fill out the survey and we invite you to have your say. Copyright Agency CEO Josephine Johnston, says […]
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Macquarie University, the Australia Council for the Arts and the Copyright Agency are excited to announce that a national survey of Australian authors is now open. All published Australian authors are eligible to fill out the survey and we invite you to have your say. To complete the survey, visit www.mq.edu.au/authors-survey. The survey will remain […]
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Over 30 independent publishers across the nation put a halt to news publishing on Tuesday 22 March, implementing a 24-hour freeze on news content to protest no pay for their content appearing on Facebook (Meta), the campaign #WaitingOnZuck.
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The prestigious annual 2021 Educational Publishing Awards Australia (EPAAS) were held last Thursday 9 September in a free virtual event via YouTube, celebrating the educational publishing industry, whose resources are used widely across the Primary, Secondary, Tertiary/VET and Scholarly sectors in Australia.
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Three directly-elected positions on the Copyright Agency’s Board come up for election this year – that of Author Director, Artist Director and Publisher Director.
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As the 2021-22 annual budget was announced earlier this month, the federal government committed 15 million dollars’ to the Australian Associated Press (AAP) for the next two years. The decision follows a campaign by the AAP leadership for federal government assistance.
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The Cultural Fund has some exciting funding opportunities for individuals to apply before Easter next year!
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Dr Nathan Hollier, Publisher and CEO at Melbourne University Publishing (formerly Director at Monash University Publishing) was the 2018 recipient of the Copyright Agency’s Publisher Fellowship. Nathan’s research project focused on the opportunities and obstacles for book publishing in Asia Pacific markets, traveling to International Book Fairs in Jakarta, Delhi and Kuala Lumpur while also […]
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Like so many other awards this year, the 2020 EPAAs were announced via a free digital event on Thursday 3 September.
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Not even the COVID-19 pandemic could stop the book industry’s night of nights, as the 2020 Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIAs) were announced via live-stream on Wednesday 13 May. The virtual event was supported by a who’s who of presenters, including APA President Lee Walker, prolific author and proud Wiradjuri woman Anita Heiss, and former […]
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The COVID-19 outbreak in Australia has necessitated rapid and substantial change at all levels of society – not least at the level of education. With protective measures and restrictions set to be enforced for many more weeks (if not months), schools and universities have had to adapt to online teaching on an unprecedented scale. The […]
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Melissa Fyfe has won the 2019 Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing with her article ‘Getting Cliterate’, published in the Good Weekend, which celebrates the Australian scientist who almost single-handedly shed light on the anatomy and physiology of the female sex organ. The $7000 winner’s prize was presented by UNSW Science Dean, Professor Emma Johnston […]
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Copyright Agency has issued its 2018-19 Annual Report at its AGM held in Sydney on 20 November 2019. The report provides the audited financial results of the company and reports on achievements in the last financial year. 2018-19 was a strong year with many gains for our members. Highlights include: Strong financial results We generated revenue of around $150m and paid […]
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The Copyright Agency announced the appointment of two new Board Directors at its AGM on 20 November 2019 and released its end of financial year results. Copyright Agency Chairman Kim Williams welcomed the Deputy Chair of the Australian Society of Authors, Anne Maria Nicholson as an author director, and Managing Director of McGraw-Hill Education Cath […]
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This story, first published last year, is reproduced by popular demand. Could it be possible that the Will had set things right at last, and that Richard and Ada were going to be rich? It seemed too good to be true. Alas, it was! “Mr Kenge,” said Allan, appearing enlightened all in a moment. “…Do […]
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The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund continues to invest in Australia’s arts future, announcing more than $500,000 in grants for the support of 25 projects in the first of two rounds of funding for 2019. Applications for the Cultural Fund’s three Fellowships (each worth $80,000) for two authors and an artist, are open for application until […]
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One of the Copyright Agency’s stakeholders, Australian Book Review has created an Indigenous issue, which is out this month. To celebrate, ABR is providing Creative Licence readers with 100 free annual subscriptions to the digital edition. Catherine Ferrari asked the Editor and CEO of ABR, Peter Rose, about the special issue and the creation of […]
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A two-time winner and three first-time nominees are among the talented Australian authors shortlisted for the 2019 Miles Franklin Literary Award, announced on Tuesday 2 July at the Mitchell Library of NSW – the “literary home” of Miles Franklin. The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund, alongside award trustee Perpetual, announced six authors – three men and […]
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The Copyright Agency closed off the Financial Year 2018/19 making distributions to members of $116 million. The money, which comes from licence fees paid by the education, government and commercial sectors for using valuable copyright material, is paid across the creative economy – to publishers, authors, academics and teachers, plus to journalists and media publishers, […]
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The trustee of Australia’s most prestigious literary awards, Perpetual, has announced 10 talented authors who have been included in the 2019 longlist for the Miles Franklin Award. The Miles Franklin Literary Award was established by prolific author and feminist Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin, now best known for her first novel My Brilliant Career. First […]
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Teachers, librarians and booksellers! It’s time to make your voice heard by nominating your favourite primary or secondary educational publisher. If you buy, sell or use textbooks or other educational resources, we want you to help decide this year’s Australian Publishers’ Association Primary and Secondary Publisher of the Year – sponsored by the Copyright Agency. […]
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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 […]
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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 – […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
Read MoreThe Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund has partnered with the Australia Council for the Arts to support Macquarie University’s research examining the international rights sales and export of Australian books over the last decade. Both organisations will contribute $30,000 to the study. In a first, the university study will collect data on the extent and nature […]
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The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund provides almost $2m in funding every year to support Australian creativity through our vibrant writing, publishing and visual arts sectors. For the next month, the Cultural Fund is accepting applications for three highly valuable Fellowships – including a new one for teachers – and grants for emerging artists and writers. […]
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Dr Andrew Leigh MP won the 2018 Bragg UNSW Press Prize for Science Writing with ‘From bloodletting to placebo surgery’, an excerpt from his book Randomistas. The piece looks at the fascinating effects of sham surgeries and the history of randomised trials. The Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund has sponsored the Bragg Prize for the next three […]
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The Parliamentary Friends of Australian Books and Writers (PFABW) celebrated its first anniversary in late September with a record number of attendees at Parliament House. Launching the Australian Reading Hour for 2018, co-chairs Assistant Minister the Hon. Linda Reynolds CSC and Graham Perrett MP, noted they were pleased with the turn out for such a […]
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The 2018 Educational Publishing Awards Australia in Melbourne recently brought together a committed group of people to celebrate excellence and recognise going above and beyond for the advancement of students. The big winners of the evening were PLD and Oxford University Press who were awarded Primary and Secondary Publisher of the Year respectively, as voted […]
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It comes as no surprise that reading books can be good for you, but did you know that reading can reduce stress more quickly than having a cup of tea? According to a study from the University of Sussex 1, reading can reduce stress by as much as 68% and it works faster than other […]
Read MoreIn July, the Copyright Agency sought nominations from members for three elected Board Director positions – that of Publisher Director, Author Director and Artist Director. Incumbents, journalist Adele Ferguson and visual artist Dr Oliver Watts, will remain on the Board as their positions have not been contested. The two people running for the Publisher Director role are the incumbent Jane Curry (Ventura […]
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Michelle de Kretser has won the 2018 Miles Franklin Literary Award for her novel The Life to Come, published by Allen & Unwin. This win makes her the third woman in the Award’s 61-year history to win the top prize more than once. Michelle’s previous win was in 2013 for her novel Questions of Travel. Michelle […]
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Copyright Agency is pleased to announce an exciting opportunity for our Commercial Licensees to gain a one-year individual subscription to the digital edition of the Australian Book Review for free! As one of Australia’s leading cultural magazines, an ABR Online subscription provides access to original essays, commentaries, new reviews, creative writing and interviews, as well […]
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Three directly-elected positions on the Copyright Agency’s Board come up for election this year – that of Publisher Director, Author Director and Visual Artist Director. The three incumbents, publisher Jane Curry, journalist Adele Ferguson and visual artist Dr Oliver Watts, have all indicated they will nominate again for the positions. Members can also nominate for […]
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The winner of the Miles Franklin Award in 2017, Josephine Wilson, spoke at the recent Australian Parliamentary Friends of Books and Writers event at Parliament House Canberra on Monday 18 June 2018. The event, which was co-chaired by Senator Linda Reynolds and Graham Perrett MP, introduced four of the six authors who have been shortlisted […]
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The announcement of the shortlist for the prestigious Miles Franklin Literary Award 2018 includes two former winners, Kim Scott and Michelle de Kretser, and four other authors, all of whom have received literary accolades and are strong contenders to receive the $60,000 literary prize in August. On Sunday 17 June trustee of the award, Perpetual, […]
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The University of Queensland Press (UQP) is celebrating its 70th birthday this year. Established in 1948, UQP was originally founded as a traditional university press, but it later branched out into trade publishing. To mark the occasion, the independent publisher will release an anthology featuring fiction, nonfiction and poetry from 25 past and present UQP […]
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On Tuesday 13 February, the second Parliamentary Friends of Australian Books and Writers gathering was held at Parliament House, Canberra for the the launch of Library Lover’s Day. Graham Perrett MP and Senator Linda Reynolds were on hand to hear authors, Alison Lester and Aunty Joy Murphy, illustrator Lisa Kennedy and education expert Laureate Professor John Hattie, highlight […]
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In 2017, the Managing Director of Insight Publications, Mizz De Zoysa-Lewis, received an IGNITE grant of $4000 to attend a Leadership Strategies in Book Publishing course at the Yale School of Management. The intensive week-long program helps publishing professionals understand the challenges and opportunities created in an increasingly global and digital publishing landscape. “By attending this […]
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In 2018, Oxford University Press is celebrating 110 years in Australia. To give that some context, when the office was opened in 1908: Women had just won the right to vote in Victoria Canberra didn’t exist The recorded Australian population was 4,232,278, around 20 million fewer people than today. The Australian branch of OUP now […]
Read MoreThe non-fiction publisher (trade) at UQP, Alexandra Payne, received a Copyright Agency Publisher Fellowship in 2016 to find out, “How the practice and future of the contemporary publisher or commissioning editor will evolve with the opportunities presented by ongoing digital disruption?” Read her report: How do trade publishers innovate in a time of digital evolution, and what form […]
Read MoreThe Head of Publicity at Allen & Unwin, Louise Cornegé, received a Copyright Agency Publisher Fellowship in 2016 to “…identify challenges, trends and innovations in the way books are promoted in a digital-first media environment by meeting with publicity and marketing specialists at publishing houses in the United States.” Read her report: How has the digital revolution […]
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Just a few short weeks after announcing the recipient of the Cultural Fund’s $80,000 Author Fellowship as Kathryn Heyman, the Copyright Agency has announced it will provide $1.035m to 35 arts organisations in 2018. The Copyright Agency’s CEO, Adam Suckling, says: “Everything we do supports our members – authors, journalists, publishers, visual artists and educators […]
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In November last year, the Australia Council’s Literature Director, Wenona Byrne, delivered the keynote speech at the Independent Publishing Conference organised by the Small Press Network. We’ve reproduced Wenona’s speech, which offers terrific insights into current trends and opportunities in publishing (with her permission). Frankfurt Book Fair In October 2017, I attended the Frankfurt Book […]
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Kate Sherington, Digital Business Manager at Pan Macmillan Australia, attended the Digital Publishing Innovation Summit in London in 2017, courtesy of a Cultural Fund IGNITE grant. The digital summit provided her with fresh insights on capturing and exploiting data, which she is already working to integrate. Kate says, “The main focus of the conference was […]
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The Copyright Agency and Viscopy announced their intention to merge earlier this year. This process is now underway and, as such, two Extraordinary General Meetings will be held on 2 November – one for Viscopy members (to vote for the change) and one for Copyright Agency members to vote to amend the Copyright Agency’s constitution […]
Read MoreAs part of the class action against Université Laval, a legal notice to members has been issued. Authors and publishers worldwide are invited to read it and share with their networks. Important: no action is required on your part to be a member of the group. The notice can be consulted on Copibec’s website. www.copibec.ca/en/legal-notice […]
Read MoreThe 2017 Educational Publishing Awards, sponsored by the Copyright Agency and Opus Group, were held on 20 September. The Publishers of the Year were Brisbane’s Origo Education in the Primary category and Oxford University Press for the Secondary category. Keynote speakers for the evening included: Gheran Steel (Boon Wurrung Foundation), Chris Gray (Wiley), Adrian Rhodes […]
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On a literary night of nights Josephine Wilson took home the Miles Franklin Literary Award for her novel Extinctions. Hailed by the judging panel as a clever and compassionate novel, the story follows protagonist Fred Lothian’s experiences with ageing, adoption, grief and remorse; rescue and also resistance to rescue. Read more about Josephine’s book and the […]
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LearningField, a world-first digital textbook platform by The Copyright Agency, welcomes three new publishers – National Educational Advancement Programs (Neap), Edrolo and Titan Education – offering more than 250 new texts, study guides and video support programs to students and teachers. The new publisher resources add to the list of more than 1,300 e-textbooks and […]
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The 24th Educational Publishing Awards Shortlist has been announced. Organised by the Australian Publishers Association and sponsored by the Copyright Agency, the prestigious annual Educational Publishing Awards celebrate excellence and innovation in this thriving Australian industry. The awards will be held at The Pavilion, Arts Centre Melbourne on Wednesday, 20 September 2017. Early bird tickets cost […]
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Seamus McGuinness, the Managing Director of Australian educational publisher, R.I.C. Publications, writes about how weakening copyright rules will give big tech companies a free ride on Australian creative content. Download and read the licensed copy from today’s Australian Financial Review newspaper.
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Just before Christmas last year the Productivity Commission’s final report on Australia’s IP arrangements was released by the Government. The report recommends a number of damaging changes to Australian copyright including introducing ‘Fair Use’ and removing parallel import restrictions on books. The Government’s Department of Industry, Innovation and Science is accepting submissions on the final […]
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The Productivity Commission has ignored the testimonials and submissions of Australian creators, authors, musicians, filmmakers, journalists and artists by recommending the removal of protections that ensure Aussie creators receive fair payment for their work. “Australians artists, writers, musicians and filmmakers have a right to receive fair payment for their work. These sweeping changes to Australian […]
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“Copyright Agency | Viscopy welcomes the Federal Opposition’s support for Australian publishers, writers and booksellers and their ability to invest in Australian writers by keeping in place territorial copyright which the Productivity Commission wants to abolish,” said Copyright Agency CEO Adam Suckling. “However we remain gravely concerned about many other proposals in the Productivity Commission […]
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The Copyright Agency awarded an unprecedented $160,000 for its Author Fellowship and four Publishing Fellowships, along with two NAVA Visual Arts Fellowships at the inaugural Copyright Agency | Viscopy annual showcase in Sydney tonight. “This year’s fellowship announcement will award a record $160,000 providing crucial financial support for the pursuit of creative excellence and innovation […]
Read MoreThe first tranche of the Universities distribution will go out to members in December along with the individually licensed educational institutions. Online member area revamped We’ve recently upgraded our online member portal so you can access your information on-the-go through a mobile or tablet. As a result, all members have to update their passwords. If you haven’t done so yet, please click here to create your […]
Read MoreThe Educational Publishing Awards celebrated 23 years of excellence last month in Melbourne. Organised by the Australian Publishers Association, the awards highlight the creativity and innovation of educational authors and publishers. This year, the judges assessed 126 titles in 22 award categories. Copyright Agency is a longstanding sponsor of the Publisher of the Year Awards […]
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Melbourne Writers’ Festival 2016 Opening Night Speech by Kim Williams on the Miles Franklin Award What does it take to produce a superb work of literature? Talent, intelligence and the perseverance of an explorer, perhaps even a fictitious one such as Johann Ulrich Voss. A writer needs patience, time and a quiet place to encounter an […]
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Author A. S. Patrić has won the prestigious 2016 Miles Franklin Literary Award for his debut novel, Black Rock White City. The award, announced at the opening night of the Melbourne Writers Festival tonight, has delivered Mr Patrić $60,000 in prize money from the Miles Franklin Trust, managed by Perpetual. As one of the five […]
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The Copyright Agency’s annual Author Fellowship for mid-to-late career authors has doubled its award from $40,000 to $80,000 this year, making it one of Australia’s richest fellowships for writers. Copyright Agency CEO, Adam Suckling, says, “This is now the flagship fellowship for mid-to-late career authors, providing valuable financing so they can develop their next work. […]
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The Copyright Agency’s response to the changes proposed by the Productivity Commission has been published in The Australian Financial Review Copyright Agency chief executive Adam Suckling said the introduction of a long-debated US-style “fair use” exception for the use of copyright material would curtail the production of Australian content and destabilise an industry that contributed $7.4 billion to the economy. Read the […]
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It’s a sad fact that over 93% of books in the world are not published in accessible formats for blind, visually impaired or print disabled readers. In June 2013, the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) adopted the Marrakesh Treaty to help solve this book famine which has become a human rights issue. Australia has signed […]
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Technology is now enabling educational publishers to create resources that deliver personalised learning to students. Discovering and nurturing the talent within each student is the new paradigm in the classroom and Australian publishers’ are offering innovative products and solutions that equip students with the skills they will need in the new digital economy. Each year […]
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As a writer, the challenge is always to find the right form and structure.
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Australia’s book industry: authors, publishers, booksellers and rights managers have welcomed the Federal Government’s decision to reduce the Low Value Threshold on offshore purchases to zero from 1 July 2017. The Australian Society of Authors, the Australian Publishers Association, the Australian Booksellers Association, the Copyright Agency and the Australian Council of Small Business called for […]
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The Copyright Agency has awarded a total of $40,000 to five publishers to undertake inaugural research fellowships in the 2015/16 financial year. A suite of fellowships – for publishers, an author, and legal researchers – were announced in 2014 to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the agency, and honour its founding members. The inaugural Copyright […]
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As the transition of schools into the online environment continues apace, the creators of digital textbook app LearningField have signed major educational publisher Macmillan Education Australia to provide its catalogue of texts for students in years 7-12. Signing Macmillan Education means the digital platform has all six of the major Australian educational publishers within LearningField, […]
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Meltwater, a leading provider of online intelligence solutions delivering big data insights, has announced it has formed a content licensing agreement with the Copyright Agency, acting on behalf of Australia’s market-leading publishers. Publishers include APN News & Media, Fairfax Media, News Corp Australia, Seven West Media, Bauer Media, Pacific Magazines and more. The content licensing agreement […]
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Working out ways to share resources and acknowledge the contributions of peers and competitors are all important strategies for the future success of publishing in its myriad formats.
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In a first for Australian schools, teachers can now source dedicated teaching resources for Australian stories, from Kindergarten to Year 12. Reading Australia , set up by the not-for-profit rights organisation, the Copyright Agency, provides teaching resources for books, plays and poetry anthologies from top Aussie authors such as Tim Winton, Jackie French, Peter Carey and […]
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