Australian authors add their voices to protecting creative rights

Four best-selling Australian authors have added their voices to This Book/Song Changed My Life social media campaign that is asking Australians to support and respect creative rights of writers, musicians and artists.

Matthew Reilly (New York Times Best Selling author of action crime thrillers such as Ice Station, Scarecrow), Jackie French (bestselling author of Dairy of  a Wombat), Anna Funder (author of the internationally acclaimed Stasiland) and Alice Pung (award winning author of Unpolished Gem) have  joined a cast of well-known Australians in sharing stories of the creative works that changed their lives.

The social media campaign This Book/Song Changed My Life was created by the Copyright Agency and APRA AMCOS to highlight the importance of Australian creativity, in light of proposed changes to copyright laws that, if implemented, would damage Australian creativity.

These proposals, the Copyright Agency and APRA AMCOS say, will put the incentives and innovation of new Australian creative content at risk.

Copyright Agency CEO Adam Suckling says “Draft recommendations made by the Productivity Commission include the introduction of “Fair Use” – an American legal principle that has enabled large enterprises in the US to use copyright material for free. This, along with a proposed expansion of the ‘Safe Harbour’ provision, would see Australian artists, writers, musicians and filmmakers not receiving fair payment for their work and make it substantially harder to make a living.”

APRA AMCOS Chief Executive Brett Cottle said, “At a time when copyright is working in practice as it should, and just when the culturally-rich and economically vital business of music is getting back on its feet, it’s difficult to fathom why measures such as those relating to Safe Harbour expansion or so-called ‘fair use’ should be contemplated by government.”

This Book/Song Changed My Life features videos by well-known Australians sharing  how a creative work changed the course of their life, from influencing the content of their works, giving them the courage to be different and, most of all, inspiring them to follow their passion and creative pursuits.  The participants include:

·       Reg Mombassa (Mental As Anything and Mambo artist)

·       Tara Moss (best-selling author and TV presenter)

·       Rove McManus (comedian, producer, radio presenter)

·       Sam Margin (musician, The Rubens)

·       Jake Speer (actor, Home & Away)

·       Joe Hildebrand (Studio 10 presenter, author and journalist)

·       Tracey Spicer (author, journalist and news anchor)

·       Isobelle Carmody (fantasy author of bestselling Obernewtyn Chronicles )

Bestselling authors Matthew Reilly, Jackie French, Anna Funder and Alice Pung have now added their voices to this impressive line-up of Australian talent.

This Book/Song Changed My Life campaign asks Australians to upload their own stories and make a pledge to respect creators by agreeing to pay for books and ebooks, attribute creators and ask permission when using material in their own creations. The campaign will use the hashtags #respectcreators, #freeisnotfair and #poweredbycopyright to increase awareness.

“Now, more than ever, Australians need to support creativity to protect the future of Aussie inventiveness, vision and originality,” Mr Suckling says.

To view videos and find out more about This Book/Song Changed My Life visit
www.changedmylife.com.au.