Page 39 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL13

Protecting andPromoting PublishingThe owner of Silkworm Books on copyright,freedom of expression and the current state of the international book industryThere are a few missions we try to achieve but we place emphasis on two pillars. One is to protect copyrights. The other is to promote the freedom to publishAthree-day trade meeting organized by Perbadanan Kota Buku in May, part of the 2016 Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair, saw Southeast Asian publishers and content creators exhibit works to trade visitors from around the world. The event was part of the Kuala Lumpur Trade and Copyright Centre’s efforts to promote licensing for the Malaysian and ASEAN publishing industries. Elite+ joined the event as an exhibitor and had a chance to speak to Trasvin Jittidecharak, owner of Silkworm Books, an independent publisher of quality English language books in Chiang Mai. She is also an adviser to Asia Books, the largest Thai-owned English-language bookshop chain, and a member of the executive committee of the International Publishers Association. We spoke to her about the IPA’s mission, protecting book copyrights and the emergence of digital content.What is the core mission of the IPA and what does it hope to achieve in the near future?Based in Geneva, IPA is a 120-year-old organization. It’s a trade association with a mandate on human rights. There are a few missions we try to achieve but we place emphasis on two pillars. One is to protect copyrights. The other is to promote the freedom to publish. These are long-term goals and may not be accomplished in the near future as it takes time and tremendous collaboration to make changes and see results.To protect copyrights, we work closely with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). We negotiate with IT people and companies that have become financially powerful as their perspective on copyright issues differs from ours. To give you some concrete examples, we’re concentrating on the issues of fair use and open access, both of which have an enormous affect on publishers and writers, especially in academic circles. Open access refers to online research reports that are free of all restrictions on access and free of many restrictions on use. It is based on the idea that academic research is subsidized by public funding, thus publishers and content creators have no right to charge for published works. If this continues, content creators won’t be able to maintain their business or keep up with producing quality content. For fair use rights, Canada for instance allows 10% of a book to be used for free for educational purposes. If a book has 400 pages, you can photocopy 40 pages and use the content without having to pay the publisher. Canadian publishers and writers suffer as most publishers there are small businesses. Their revenueElite+ 37