"Copyright has been the bedrock of huge expansion of the creative industries which have taken advantage of technology, new platforms and devices, delivering wider choice to consumers of digital music, newspapers, film, TV and books than ever imaginable even ten years ago."
Online piracy is a massive challenge for all economies which depend on their creative industries, hurting publishers' and authors' income, employees' jobs and governments' tax revenues.
Legal deposit schemes, which require publishers to submit copies of books and journals to a national library, is considered a vital part in preserving a country's cultural heritage.
The IPA, along with other creative sector organisations (IFRRO, FEP, Motion Picture Association, European Writers Council, International Federation of Journalists & more) have written to European Commission President José Barroso, highlighting the dangers of a proposed WIPO treaty on copyright exceptions for libraries and archives.
Publishers and collecting societies are successfully sueing online file-hosting services where copyrighted materials are illegally downloaded.
The European Writers' Council, the Federation of European Publishers and the European Booksellers Federation today launched a joint manifesto for the 2014 European Parliament elections.