Comments on: Read this: is parallel importation the path to a literary nation? http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/02/09/read-this-is-parallel-importation-the-path-to-a-literary-nation/ now with extra source Sun, 12 Feb 2012 07:51:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Bryce ACT http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/02/09/read-this-is-parallel-importation-the-path-to-a-literary-nation/#comment-8901 Bryce ACT Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000 #comment-8901 Enough of the chardonnay idealism of the literary set and self-styled cultural guardians of Australia. It's blatantly obvious that the price of books in Australia is being grossly inflated... by someone. Case in point: I recently purchased a biography of an erstwhile Australian Prime Minister from a US online book retailer for $AU32.00 (inc. freight). The cheapest I could find the book in Australia was $35.00! Support local retailers? I think not. The ultimate irony was that the book was published in Australia, shipped to the US, and then purchased and shipped back to Australia by me. Just who is to blame here? Publishers inflating prices, retailers inflating prices, or restrictive copyright laws? The point is, who cares? I'm going to continue on my merry way sending all of my 'book dollars' to the USA. Enough of the chardonnay idealism of the literary set and self-styled cultural guardians of Australia. It’s blatantly obvious that the price of books in Australia is being grossly inflated… by someone. Case in point: I recently purchased a biography of an erstwhile Australian Prime Minister from a US online book retailer for $AU32.00 (inc. freight). The cheapest I could find the book in Australia was $35.00! Support local retailers? I think not. The ultimate irony was that the book was published in Australia, shipped to the US, and then purchased and shipped back to Australia by me. Just who is to blame here? Publishers inflating prices, retailers inflating prices, or restrictive copyright laws? The point is, who cares? I’m going to continue on my merry way sending all of my ‘book dollars’ to the USA.

]]> By: Harold http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/02/09/read-this-is-parallel-importation-the-path-to-a-literary-nation/#comment-8902 Harold Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000 #comment-8902 The real scandal is that Copyright law gives up to 150 years monopoly (more in the US but its negotiators didn't manage to push us out to the life plus 90 years of the US which suits copyright hoarders like the Disney Corporation). Good for one's deserving great-grandchildren or other owners of one's copyright but a big gift by parliaments when compared with the 20 year monopoly that you get if you invent a life saving drug or a way of saving fuel. Now the ridiculous Garrett wants to give artists a right they can't even sell (unlike copyright or a patent) to receive royalties whenever the work of art they have already sold is sold again. Good for online sales in New Zealand ........ The real scandal is that Copyright law gives up to 150 years monopoly (more in the US but its negotiators didn’t manage to push us out to the life plus 90 years of the US which suits copyright hoarders like the Disney Corporation). Good for one’s deserving great-grandchildren or other owners of one’s copyright but a big gift by parliaments when compared with the 20 year monopoly that you get if you invent a life saving drug or a way of saving fuel. Now the ridiculous Garrett wants to give artists a right they can’t even sell (unlike copyright or a patent) to receive royalties whenever the work of art they have already sold is sold again. Good for online sales in New Zealand ……..

]]> By: David http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/02/09/read-this-is-parallel-importation-the-path-to-a-literary-nation/#comment-8903 David Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000 #comment-8903 All this opposition to parrallel importation originates from foreign owned Australian publishing houses who want to gouge the biggest buck out of Australian readers in order to send bigger profits to their overseas head offices. What's more, the excuse that it will kill Australian literature is rubbish. Most so called literary fiction merely provides an opportunity for mediocre, unimaginative writers to make the english language jump through hoops while attempting to tell dismal uninteresting stories which are usually the agonisingly boring life stories of the authors with only the names of the characters changed so the awful prose can be passed off as fiction. All this opposition to parrallel importation originates from foreign owned Australian publishing houses who want to gouge the biggest buck out of Australian readers in order to send bigger profits to their overseas head offices. What’s more, the excuse that it will kill Australian literature is rubbish. Most so called literary fiction merely provides an opportunity for mediocre, unimaginative writers to make the english language jump through hoops while attempting to tell dismal uninteresting stories which are usually the agonisingly boring life stories of the authors with only the names of the characters changed so the awful prose can be passed off as fiction.

]]> By: Marcus Seal http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/02/09/read-this-is-parallel-importation-the-path-to-a-literary-nation/#comment-8904 Marcus Seal Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000 #comment-8904 A very similar argument raged in Australia aorund the music industry a decade or so ago; as I recall the estabished, vested interests were vehemently opposed to its introduction (I was at PolyGram at the time so saw it first-hand). The allowance of parallel importation did not bring the music industry to its knees (although it has been transformed radically by other factors such as piracy). Today we are a far more agile, diversified industry exists and the local artistic community is as vibrant as it has ever been. Artists have rebelled against what was a distribution monopoly and have created a thoroughly different environment where microcosms, niches and special interests flourish.<br /><br />Restricting a consumer's choice to a limited physical range is, at best, antiquated thinking. Utilising protectionism to maintain prices will inevitably drive consumers to a more efficient source of supply, as has been the case with my 63 year-old mother who can use email well, but uses her Amazon account far better. She's a voracious reader and has now been purchasing books unavailable in Australia overseas for years.<br /><br />This is an opportunity to change and embrace a future, even if you're not sure what it looks like. This should be self-evident with the figures of decline as cited by Jeff Sparrow. A very similar argument raged in Australia aorund the music industry a decade or so ago; as I recall the estabished, vested interests were vehemently opposed to its introduction (I was at PolyGram at the time so saw it first-hand). The allowance of parallel importation did not bring the music industry to its knees (although it has been transformed radically by other factors such as piracy). Today we are a far more agile, diversified industry exists and the local artistic community is as vibrant as it has ever been. Artists have rebelled against what was a distribution monopoly and have created a thoroughly different environment where microcosms, niches and special interests flourish.

Restricting a consumer’s choice to a limited physical range is, at best, antiquated thinking. Utilising protectionism to maintain prices will inevitably drive consumers to a more efficient source of supply, as has been the case with my 63 year-old mother who can use email well, but uses her Amazon account far better. She’s a voracious reader and has now been purchasing books unavailable in Australia overseas for years.

This is an opportunity to change and embrace a future, even if you’re not sure what it looks like. This should be self-evident with the figures of decline as cited by Jeff Sparrow.

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