The Publishers Association’s Annual Report 2015

Along with letters from the President and Chief Executive, our Annual Report contains summaries of our political engagement, sector-specific activity, copyright protection, campaigns, products and services.

Our political engagement included the re-establishing of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Publishing; engagement with the Europea Commission and key decision-makers on its digital single market strategy; and working to secure a workable transition period for the repeal of Section 52 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

For consumer publishers, we worked with the Booksellers Association on the third Books Are My Bag campaign; with the Society of Chief Librarians on a working group on e-lending; and with the Association of Authors’ Agents on improving the clarity of royal statements on digital sales. On the academic side, we worked with the research community and partner organisations to showcase the role of academic publishers in producing quality research. And for education publishing, we commissioned a literature review of evidence on textbook use and its relation to high-quality educational outcomes.

International and digital piracy remained high on our agenda for copyright protection and our domestic campaigns to promote reading for pleasure and diversity the workforce began in earnest. We continued to provide value for members through a range of goods and services.

As a sector, we continue to evolve and grapple with some of the big challenges we face, from ensuring that we are more diverse in our recruitment to communicating with more impact the innovative and evolving nature of what we do.

Joanna Prior, President of the Publishers Association

The PA must excel as catalysts, as convenors, as problem-solvers and as campaigners who help to ensure your businesses continue to succeed.

Stephen Lotinga, Chief Executive of the Publishers Asociation