Former Simon & Schuster staffer Filippo Bernardini has said stole more than 1,000 unpublished manuscripts because he wanted to read books before they hit stores.
In court papers published on Friday (March 10th), Bernardini apologised for his crime but claimed he did it so he could dive into the stories before they were available to the general public.
Writing and publishing a book about a controversial public figure is like diving into shark-infested waters, says ABC investigative journalist Louise Milligan. She told her Adelaide Writers' Week audience that if she'd written her 2017 award-winning book Cardinal: The Rise and Fall of Cardinal Pell today, she wondered if it would even be published. "There's a lot more caution in the publishing world. It's a defamation-happy climate."
Her fellow investigative journalist, Nine's Adele Ferguson, agreed: "We have such punitive defamation laws, some of the worst in the world. People should be marching in the streets."
World Book Day organisers urge focus on reading for pleasure, as National Literacy TrustUK-based organisation which has campaigned since 1993 to improve literacy standards across all age groups. Excellent research information and details of the many initiatives the charity is currently involved in. www.literacytrust.org.uk. It also has a useful page of news stories on UK literacy, which links to newsletter http://www.readitswapit.co.uk/TheLibrary.aspx survey reveals decline
Ahead of World Book Day on Thursday 2nd March, the charity by the same name is urging teachers, carers and parents to encourage reading for pleasure as it continues on a sharp decline.
Reading was the only core subject which saw attainment levels improve in 2022, with Department for Education Key Stage 2 statistics revealing that 75% of pupils at Key Stage 2 met the expected standard in reading, up from 73% in 2019.
However the National Literacy Trust (NLT) Annual Literacy Survey shows that the number of children who say they enjoy reading is in serious decline, with reading for pleasure at its lowest level for 18 years.
As books become intellectual property assets, publishers become asset managers trying to future-proof their toxic investments
The backlash to Puffin Books' decision to update Roald Dahl's children's books has been swift and largely derisive. The publisher has been accused of "absurd censorship", "corporate safetyism" and "cultural vandalism."
At its core, however, updating Roald Dahl's children's books is really about the rights and control copyright grants to authors and copyright holders. Those rights are exercised to update children's books more frequently than many of these critics may realise.
