There’s been a development in the debate over the “parallel importation” of books in Australia — lifting regulations against the importation of all books, even if it’s of a title already published in Australia by an Australian publisher. According to a report in The Australian, after facing strong opposition within the federal cabinet (which has to sign off on the proposal before the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd can make it law), Minister Craig Emerson has “floated a ‘compromise'” that would allow the government to “keep import restrictions in place but require local publishers to make new releases available simultaneously with their overseas release.” (The previous proposal gave Australian copyright holders only 30 days before allowing competing, imported versions into the market.)

But opponents say that doesn’t really do anything but delay the inevitable by a mere 30 days. Says one opponent, “Victorian backbencher” Steve Gibbons, “This would still cause disruption to the industry without any obvious point. It’s almost as if he (Mr Emerson) is on a mission to reform something, anything.”

In a report from trade mag Bookseller and Publisher, Australian Publishers Association head Maree McCaskill says the compromise — known as the “Zero-Day” rule — is unworkable, anyway.  According to the report, “McCaskill said that the push for a zero-day rule came from the expectation that, because publishers were able to receive files electronically, publishing could be instant. ‘Listen to stories from the biggest publishers: even with their own sister houses they often can’t get  the files [straight away] or the overseas publishers won’t send them until the book is published in the US. When they have received [the file] they need to do the cover, the layout, because the books have been published for the US and UK markets, so there’s a huge amount of work. And the thirty days is all that; plus printed, warehoused and delivered to all shops in Australia–to Broome or Timbuktu.'”