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Rights spat continues in Australia

05.12.07 | Philip Jones

The Australian Publishers Association (APA) has released a statement defending its members against claims from the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) that nascent e-book download services such as the newly launched Dymocks Digital Books could entail a breach of rights agreements between authors and publishers.

"The Australian Publishers Association strenuously refutes the suggestion that its members would publish any material digitally (or any other form) without a signed agreement with the copyright owner of that material," said APA c.e.o. Maree McCaskill. Dymocks has already stated that it "will not provide any digital content unless it has an absolute assurance from its suppliers that all necessary consents have been obtained".

But the ASA said that Dymocks' current digital delivery model made "it patently obvious it doesn't care one whit about an appropriate return to authors for the digital exploitation of their work".

• Australia
• digital
• Dymocks
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• Philip Jones