Monday News: Importing books to Australia, male birth control, My Friend Flicka & first love, and American Girl viral video
Australian readers – take note – I think I reported on the Australian Parallel Importation situation not too long ago, but with this recent rant from Jay Kristoff, it might be time to do so again. Kristoff rehearses the argument that allowing parallel importation will dilute the Australian book market, open the floodgates to cheap, remaindered books, kill local bookselling businesses, and generally destroy Australian book culture. He also basically characterizes a proposal to limit copyright as a license to steal. If you’ve read Kristoff’s piece, I highly recommend this article from The Conversation (from University of Melbourne’s Peter Donoghue) as a counterpoint. Donoghue places a lot of the responsibility for the current controversy on publishers, and more specifically on a misunderstanding of parallel importation restrictions:
Their basic argument is this: the PIRs construct Australia as a separate rights territory, and this reality is absolutely critical in enabling the purchase of Australian rights to overseas titles and the sale of rights to original locally published titles into export markets.
The PIRs grant exclusivity both ways, and therefore rights trading can be done with full confidence.
The problem with this argument has always been its profound conceptual confusion. The PIRs don’t make Australia a rights territory at all (referred to as “territorial copyright”). All they do is disallow importation for commercial purposes by booksellers. – The Conversation and Jay Kristoff
How Silicon Valley Will Replace Condoms – So this is pretty interesting. Currently there are two gel-based, non-hormonal male birth control products, Vasalgel and Echo-V. Echo-V, a new developmental entry, is actually a bit easier to inject than Vasalgel (both are injected into the vas deferens, but Vasalgel requires a small incision first), although both are reversible. They may still be a few years away from the market, but their viability could radically change what is largely seen as the pharmaceutical industry’s incentive to keep birth control aimed at women (who therefore continue to bear the responsibility).
Whenever and however it arrives, gel-based male birth control would be monumental. Given the range of side effects that women experience when using oral contraceptives and IUDS, a non-hormonal male contraceptive could revolutionize not just medicine, but sex itself.
According to variousestimates, the size of the global contraceptives market is approaching $20 billion, largely driven by pills and devices aimed at women. As Priceonomics reported, major pharmaceutical companies are not likely to even get out of bed for the relatively small male contraceptive market, especially because new options would “cannibalize their existing products.” – Daily Beast
“MY FRIEND FLICKA”: A BOOK ABOUT HORSES THAT IS A BOOK ABOUT FIRST LOVE – An intriguing and sensitive essay from Rebecca Mead on the way that My Friend Flicka deals with very adult themes related to love and responsibility in a way that made me think again about the draw that many Romance readers have to YA fiction.
As the story unfolds and Ken attempts to forge a bond with Flicka, he goes through the drama of challenging the authority of his father, and ultimately puts his own life at risk for Flicka’s sake. His passion is riven with guilt. He has fallen in love with a creature who may be incapable of loving him back, and to whom, through love, he may inadvertently have done harm.
What is the nature of interdependence between lovers, and what does love have to do with equality? What does it mean when one’s love for another individual involves the curtailing of his or her freedom? What would you be willing to sacrifice for your beloved? These would be complex and subtle questions about love for an adult reader—let alone for a young reader who still cringes in discomfort at witnessing the mildest of on-screen kisses. Ken’s passion is urgent, intense, and deeply confusing, as first passions always are. But the fact that Ken’s passion is mediated through an equine object gives “My Friend Flicka” a subtlety and accessibility that would be harder, or perhaps impossible, to achieve as effectively with a human love story. – The New Yorker
Girl With Prosthetic Leg Cries Tears Of Joy When She Receives A Doll Like Her – Such perfect timing for this currently viral video in which a young girl gets an American Girl doll that has been adapted with a prosthetic leg like her own, and a clearly affirming message. 10 million views and counting. Dear Hollywood: get a clue.
In the video Bennett captured of her opening the doll, above, Emma exclaims, “You — you — you gotta be kidding me. It’s got a leg like me!” before bursting into tears. Bennett had reached out to prosthetics company, A Step Ahead Prosthetics — which provides free aftermarket customization of American Girl dolls for girls with limb loss — to request the doll for her daughter. Along with the doll, the company sent Emma a letter that read, “After a few weeks of training to walk and run in her new prosthetic, she is ready to go home and live her life without limitations with you.” – Refinery29
Just the description of that last story got me teary eyed.
I saw the video of Emma and her doll yesterday. There are pieces of my heart all over the place.
I read Jay Kristoff’s rant earlier this week (following a Twitter link that said all readers in Australia should be mad about this proposal), but I really don’t see why *readers* should be mad. I understand why publishers and authors are angry because it may affect how much money they make, but for readers, won’t this proposal lead to less expensive books (both the import rule and reduced copyright term)? I know they have to pay about $35 for a paper copy of a book there, so this proposal actually sounds like a GOOD thing for readers because it will allow more people to access books. But perhaps I am overlooking something.
Male birth control will never replace female BC (although it might be a good backup) so long as it doesn’t leave an unmistakable physical evidence, as a condom does. Until men bear the consequences of unwanted, unintended pregnancies, women will (unfortunately) continue to have good reason to distrust the glib assurance of “Don’t worry, baby, I got this covered.”
We see the Secret Baby trope all over the romance genre (not to mention all those Evil Ex-Girlfriends who Lied About Being On The Pill), but I’m trying to think of a single instance of the far more common (in real life) Lied About Vasectomy trope…
@hapax:
I can’t think of one but that’s not surprising, since it’s the opposite of heroic. Something makes me think that many years ago I read a book where someone made holes in a diaphragm, but I don’t know if it was a romance and I might even be imagining the whole thing. Or maybe I saw it on TV– it seems more like a soap opera plot.
@hapax: I’ve seen the Lied About Vasectomy trope in the sense that the former boyfriend/husband/douchebag of the heroine had one and never told her, resulting in her dealing with infertility fears or a “surprise” pregnancy with the hero or such. They’re never the main issue in the book, just another facet of the dishonesty/untrustworthiness of the ex. La Nora’s The Liar comes to mind as one of the most recent of my reads with this trope.
@hapax: Ha. You saved me having to say that. Although I hope “never” is too strong, and that it’s more the “foreseeable future.” I read enough SF to envision safe, painless, temporary, easily-verifiable measures for both partners at some point. :-)
My main worry about the prospect of high-tech male birth control is that it might cause increases in STDs. Condoms are still the best option we have for preventing disease, so even if an extremely reliable form of male birth control comes out and becomes widespread, there would still be reason to use condoms. One already hears dire murmurings that people are using them less, and syphilis is currently on the rise. So it seems plausible that if non-barrier male birth control ever becomes common and widespread, without similar advances in disease prevention, we might end up with an upsurge in STDs.
“I know they have to pay about $35 for a paper copy of a book there”
It’s too late, and I’m too tired to read all the articles (as I am overseas at the moment), but you are correct. Australians think nothing of paying $35 for a book others would whine about if the price tag was $5!
Australia is lucky *anybody* reads at the prices they ask!
We’re angry as authors as it will lead to much much much less Australian content being available. Selling a book in the Australian publishing climate is already hard. When booksellers have access to cheaper books, they won’t support Australian publishing which will lead to fewer books being published.
I do understand it from the reader POV as well but it will be a death knell to Australian writing combined with all the funding cuts.
Honestly, I buy books in Australian stores and never have to pay over $25 for a regular sized paperback.
It’s inevitable that eventually parallel import restrictions will be removed and the market will be (even more) flooded with American books, and it’ll be harder to get Australian books a spot in the traditional marketplace (the same way being flooded with American films in the 1920s meant the Australian film industry could never really recover). It might not happen now but I’m resigned to it happening eventually. Economies of scale favour American product & etc etc.
I’m honestly more amazed at the recommendation to limit copyright to 15 years. I’m given to understand this would violate international treaties (the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) amendments to the Copyright Act come to mind) but it would render anything created in 2001 out of copyright, which is beyond ridiculous. I agree that life plus 70 years is too long for copyright but only 15 years is just nonsense. I’m not sure why anyone would think making that recommendation was a good idea.
An author who wants to limit people’s access to books?!
This is very sad
@Luna Harlow: Actually, that’s not what the report said. After I read the article linked here, I went to the twitter feed of the author of the article and he had RT’d a press release from the productivity commission which clarified what their report/recommendations actually were as opposed to what it being widely reported. They specifically state that Australia has treaties with various countries which mean that copyright will remain at author’s life + 70 years. what they did was examine copyright and make a comment (as opposed to a recommendation) that a 15-25 year copyright restriction would be better – while at the same time saying they it wasn’t going to change because of the aforesaid treaties to which Australia is a signatory. I tweeted Peter Donoughue and ask him for his thoughts re copyright and he tweeted back saying he thought 25 years was about right. FWIW.
Honestly, I was all prepared to get all up in arms about the idea of reducing copyright to 15 years but that’s not what the report said. And I’m far from convinced removing PIRs will make any difference at all to Australian publishing. At best, I’m ambivalent about it. Fundamentally, I’m of the view that books cost too much here.
Link to RT’d press release here: https://twitter.com/1petermartin/status/738515076613836800
No, authors don’t want to limit readers access to our books.
The proposal to flood the Australian market with cheap parallel publishing books will limit access though as fewer Australian books will be published.
@Kaetrin: Ah, see I knew it was a recommendation and not something that would happen (because treaties) but I didn’t know the recommendation was only an in-theory recommendation. I got most of my details from RWAus emails. Thanks for the clarification!
The actual report from the Australian Productivity Commission can be read here: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20160429/18014234315/australian-govt-commission-copyright-is-copywrong-hurting-public-needs-to-be-fixed.shtml.
I’ve been kind of surprised by the rumors circulating about the report, but at least it’s provided a forum to discuss the consequences of a system where the public has very few IP rights (no fair use? That is just mind-boggling to me).
When I hear from Australian authors that books are already difficult to get into the Australian commercial stream, it makes sense, because such an artificially controlled environment also has to be necessarily limited (which also supports the higher book prices). But at what point do the limits stop protecting Australian book culture and instead limit the development and growth of that culture through a broader and more diverse market (and I’m NOT talking about “cheap” imports here). I don’t know how Australian power readers manage with those book prices, which are three to four times what we pay in the US. If I had to pay almost $20 US for a paperback, I’d read *maybe* one book a month. Maybe. Books would become a very pricey luxury at that level. And I have a decent book budget. And while I completely understand the concerns about losing an advantage for Australian authors, aren’t there already lots of Australian writers who cannot break into the market there?
@Janet:
Well, I think the thing is also that the min wage is $17.29AU an hour and so a $20 book is an hour and a half work at min wage, so $20AUD isn’t really equivalent to $20 elsewhere in terms of purchasing power parity & etc. I’ve also bought a lot of books for $9 at KMart; granted, that is limited to the bestsellers and Mills and Boon. But Australian products are often more expensive than foreign-made products, anyway, and that isn’t limited to books (and Australian books would remain expensive to produce with parallel import restrictions removed, so obviously Australian publishers have a vested interest in retaining them). Almost everything is a very pricey luxury for lower income earners, anyway. I do feel like it’s difficult to compare how things cost in Australia to how things cost elsewhere because different goods have different local values in terms of local purchasing power dependent on a number of values. Adult movie tickets often cost $25 in my city, for example.
There are Australian writers who can’t break into our market just as there are writers who can’t break into their own market in any country. I don’t see that changes in copyright, fair use, etc. will change that, either.
But at the end of the day I don’t think parallel import restrictions will last forever. They constantly get challenged, there’s an uproar, people in the industry panic. Eventually they will be removed. It’s only a matter of time.