UK Society of Authors issues ‘Brexit Briefing’
The UK’s Society of Authors (SoA) has issued a report outlining the vulnerabilities faced by the UK’s creative industries during the government’s Brexit negotiations, reports Publishers Weekly.
Representing 10,500 members, including writers, scriptwriters, illustrators and literary translators, SoA has used its ‘Brexit Briefing’ report to ask for protections for creative-industry professionals to be included in the Withdrawal Agreement, which defines the terms by which the UK leaves the European Union (EU).
A major issue highlighted in the report is the concern that ‘current copyright standards are not watered down or used as bargaining chips as part of future trade negotiations’. It also asks for certain provisions to be extended into UK law, such as the Digital Single Market directive, which is likely to pass into EU law before the UK exits the EU.
According to the report, exports of books from the UK contribute £3.4 billion (A$5.9bn) or 60% of total revenues and 36% of exports are bound for EU countries. The report asks that the government negotiate trade terms that allow Europe to remain an open export market.
The report also requests that the UK government reduces VAT on ebooks to zero, taking the opportunity presented by recent EU legislation.
‘Britain’s creative industries generate £100 billion (A$175bn) a year for the UK economy, and the creative economy employs one in every 11 working people. The UK publishing industry makes a significant contribution to the creative industries as a whole, with a turnover of £5.7bn (A$10bn) in 2017,’ states the report.
Category: International news
