The UK has strong copyright laws that mean authors, illustrators and translators can be fairly compensated for their work — and enable the UK to export more books than any other country in the world.
The government is considering a change to these laws that could mean authors will be unable to limit foreign editions of their books being sold into the UK. This would undercut their domestic sales, impair their ability to earn an income and have a devastating impact on our world-renowned book industry. If writing becomes a profession only accessible to the wealthy, important stories will not be told.
Anyone who turned to reading during lockdown, or who appreciates the cultural, economic and social impact books have on our society, will wish to avoid such a change. As authors and book lovers, we have written to the business secretary urging him not to take this path, and instead to support the recommendations of the Save Our Books campaign. Doing so will allow UK authors to export their books around the world, safe in the knowledge that their UK earnings won’t suffer.
Kazuo Ishiguro; Hilary Mantel; Maggie O’Farrell; Sophie Kinsella; Bernardine Evaristo; Adam Kay; Philip Pullman; Cressida Cowell; Julia Donaldson; Axel Scheffler; Reni Eddo-Lodge; Val McDermid; Nikesh Shukla; Nick Sharratt; Peter James; Carol Ann Duffy; William Boyd; India Knight; Tim Peake; David Nicholls; Alice Oseman; Paula Hawkins; Jeanette Winterson; Prue Leith; Peter Ackroyd; Hallie Rubenhold; Jim Kay; Clare Mackintosh; Mark Haddon; Lauren Child; Philip Reeve; Joseph Coelho; Max Porter; Antonia Fraser; Joanne Harris; Sebastian Barry; Jackie Kay; Alan Ayckbourn; Andrew Motion; Sara Ogilvie; Francesca Simon; Polly Toynbee; Anne Fine; Naomi Ishiguro; Maddy Anholt; Jaspreet Kaur; Bruce Robinson; Meg Rosoff; Graham Swift; Olivia Laing; CL Taylor; Adele Parks; and 2,609 others.