Here’s a link to the second part of Akshay Pathak’s overview of the state of publishing in India today. Where Part 1 focused on the need for better data, professionally trained editors and a more robust retail infrastructure, Part 2 looks at the roles Indian publishers play in the global marketplace, as well as the growing issue of both print and digital piracy.

But perhaps the most contentious business issue in Indian publishing today is a proposed amendment to India’s copyright law. If passed, it would sanction parallel imports, in effect rendering territorial rights moot and introducing potentially devastating foreign competition into the local marketplace. Pathak writes, “Though there is a clear divide between people for and against it, publishers almost unanimously oppose the amendment. Thomas Abraham of Hachette India has lamented that this might well be the death-knell for the publishing industry in India.”

Read the full article at Publishing Perspectives.

(Photo: quinn.anya)

1 COMMENT

  1. We get this “death knell” crap from our publishers in Australia, too. They recently defeated a move by retailers and readers to get rid of parallel import restrictions. The result? Our book industry is still dying, readers are flocking to buy online and overseas from Amazon and the Book Depository, and books published in Australia are half the price if you buy them overseas. Not to mention how the whole territorial rights snafu holds most popular ebooks out of our reach, including ebooks by Australian authors… IT’S NOT WORKING, GUYS.

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