The second day of the fair saw opened with the publication of the third white paper from the 2030 Accelerator, this time on the role of Chief Financial Officers on how publishers tackle sustainability.

After that IPA  turned to copyright, with a Copyright Committee meeting held in the morning. Chaired by Jessica Sänger, members discussed pressing issues, such as AI and enforcement as well as hearing updates from different countries.

The highlight of the day was the Annual Charles Clark Memorial Lecture. Jointly organized by The Publishers Association (PA), Publishers Licensing Services (PLS), International Publishers Association (IPA), Federation of European Publishers (FEP), and Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA), the lecture is dedicated to the brilliant Charles Clark who dedicated much of his life to ensure that there was a fair system of remuneration for authors and for publishers, addressing the intersection of copyright and technology.

This year’s lecture was chaired by Catriona MacLeod Stevenson, General Counsel and Deputy CEO, Publishers Association. The main speakers were Dr Hayleigh Bosher, Associate Dean / Reader in Intellectual Property Law, Brunel University London, and Prof. Eleonora Rosati, Professor of Intellectual Property Law and Of Counsel, Stockholm University and Bird & Bird.

The queue for the CCML was a long one and not everyone made it in. Standing room only for another AI related discussion. Stevenson congratulated attendees on coming to the best one.

Eleonora Rosati gave a whistlestop tour of worldwide evolutions around TDM exceptions and the uncertainties that continue, while Bosher summarised the UK level discussions. Bosher noted the faux polarisation between tech and creative industries and also looked at the Getty Stable Diffusion case and the questions over jurisdiction, asking where does the damage occur?

Rosati cautioned against the idea that new legislation would be needed with every new piece of technology encouraging existing principles to be applied and that ambiguity can be part of good law making, with specific cases being left to the courts to resolve.

The Sustainability Hub continued to see plenty of action on this second day of the fair, with two major events held. The first panel, titled “Publishers Associations Perspectives: Drivers and Barriers for climate action,” focused on the effects of climate change and “the need for every organization and sector to decarbonize.” The panel was chaired by Dr Michiel Kolman, Chair of the Inclusive Literacy and Publishing Committee, International Publishers Association, and the panelists were Hugo Setzer, President, Mexican Publishers Association, Susan Pinkney, Head of Research, Publishers Association, Pedro Sobral, President APEL, Portuguese Publishers and Booksellers Association, and Quentin Deschandelliers, Legal Advisor, Federation of European Publishers.

The panel addressed the role of publishers and national publishing associations in addressing climate. Both the reality of the present and future challenges and aspirations were also discussed.

IPA’s second day concluded with another panel at the Sustainability Hub, titled “The lifecycle of a book and its impact on the climate.” Chaired by Rachel Martin, Global Sustainability Director, Elsevier, panelists were Alyna Wnukowsky, CEO, Libri, Jörg Engelstädter, Founder & Manager of the Future Book Forum, Canon Europe, and Andri Johnston, Digital Sustainable Lead, Cambridge University Press & Assessment. The panel focused on “knowing the book’s environmental impact,” and the need to have a “better understanding of the lifecycle of a book, the various processes, and workflows” in order to understanding what changes need to be made to the publishing sector in the battle for more sustainable solutions.

Tomorrow we will see a turn to the freedom to publish, with the panel, A Trinity of Freedoms at Risk: Expression, Publishing and Reading, being held at the Olympia Main Stage from 14:30-15:45.

 

Wednesday, 13 March 2024: