Save Our Books campaign

That this House notes the continuing efforts of the Save Our Books campaign bringing together the Publishers Association, the Society of Authors, the Association of Authors’ Agents and the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society on behalf of authors, literary agents, publishers and other supportive partners to maintain the UK’s existing copyright laws rather than adopt an international exhaustion regime which would risk levelling down copyright standards; notes the concerns expressed by the Save Our Books Campaign that such a move would threaten the creative export market with the potential loss of up to 25% of the UK publishing industry’s revenue, valued at almost one billion pounds, thereby potentially hampering investment and putting jobs at risk; believes that maintaining existing copyright laws will ensure that authors, illustrators, translators and publishers continue to be paid appropriately for their work and will also prevent an influx of cheap books from overseas which would see fewer books, by fewer authors for fewer readers across the UK; and calls on the Government to respond in early course to the findings of the recent consultation on the UK’s future exhaustion of intellectual property rights regime carried out by The Intellectual Property Office which closed on 31 August and thereby provide the certainty and stability which the publishing sector needs.