Bob Hunter ® strictly personal ® WALTER BLOCK of the Fraser Institute just made himself several thousand lifelong enemies, all of whom are armed with weapons mightier than swords. . You may have caught his arti- cle.on the News’ editorial page recently, criticizing the $3-million Public Lending Right Commis- sion. Noting that Canada has joined the ranks of 12 other countries which pay their authors for library usage of their works, he wondered whether the policy was justified at any level. According to the scheme, if a book of yours ends up in the Ca- nadian library system, the gov- emment will pay you roughly $300 a ycar for the sales you lose by having neople borrowing your book instead of buying it, as they properly ought to. : Flinty-eyed ‘Walter Block observes: *‘We cannot logically and coherently apply the logic of (the author’s payment program) to other similar instances (such as) the buainess of auto leasing or auto rental (v-hich are) engaged ... in multiple use, thus ‘cheating’ their manufacturers out of possi- ble additionni: sales for transpor- tation equipment “Transit, moreover, isn't the only ‘library’ in existence. There are also firms which rent out lawnmowers, chairs, tables, ' apariment suites, tuxedos, bridal gowns, hotel rooms, clectronic equipmeat, office supplies."’ What a fabulous argument! Canadian authors should be treated like lawnmowcr- manufacturers. Canadian books should be accorded the same prerogatives as tux rentals. CanLit should be equated with memo pads and’ wastepaper baskets. Artistically, .this may all ultimately be true, but the word “art” isn't involved in Block’s BEFORE YOU ‘DESTROY IT. Fe: CALL US! a Having problems? Let our factory-trained technicians { restore your. major ap-. _ pliances quickly, economi- cally and in your home. Our service vehicles are radio- dispatched and fully stock- ed. Call the company friends recomme! “Under the Green Awning” 985-9541 analysis. He’s fretting about the horror of a ‘‘subsidy’’ to Cana- dian wordmongers, while the poor widget-makers have to fend for themselves in the market- place. The argument has a wonderful neo-conservative ring, like being against Crown corporations. In fact, as a born-again free enter- priser, | would normally applaud the thrust of Block's argument. Except, well, gee, this is kind of embarrassing, but [I'm one of those authors who just started getting those cheques from -the Public Lending Right Commis- sion. I have nine books out, you ser. Have ] got stigmata? Hey! Let’s not discuss art, since Block doesn’t. Let’s just look at the pure economic fact that for some reason or other writers are among the lowest-paid groups in society. For roughly 7,000 authors, the average wage is $1,050. Lack of talent aside, one of the reasons is the problem of ‘‘dum- ping.”’ If a Canadian book is publish- ed in an American edition, and it does not sell its entire print run within three months, the hard- nosed Yankee publishers sell off the remaining stock for peanuts to wholesalers and bookstore chains. The books find their way into Canada as ‘‘remainders,’’ priced far below the Canadian edition, and the author gets no royalty. I’ve had this happen. It’s a real drag. Yet if you don't land an American publisher to infuse some cash into your’ Canadian publishing venture in the first ! place, you imight never get a chance to be duraped. Because the Canadian book market is so small, the costs of printing extra copies are higher, compared with the cost for American publishers. This means that books that might makc it if the momentum could be kept up are kneecapped as they start to pick up speed. By the way, here’s a related uniquely Canadian Catch-22: last year Canadian publishers lost several possible bestsellers because the nation’s printing facilities were overloaded. Why didn’t they just go across the line to hire American firms? Tut tut. Canadian publishers risk their subsidies if they give print work to Yanks, As for authors, the ultimate losers in this, c'est ia vie Cana- dien! Another distinct economic twist: in their own country, Ca- nadian writers can only com- mand 25 per cent of the readers. It’s not just that we write entirely dull stuff. There’s a serious mar- keting factor. Would-be readers in English Canada are swept along in tremendous spillover waves of publicity from the United States. They are saturated with Americana, and the brutal mar- ketplace fact is that they mostly buy what they hear somebody talking about on American tele- vision. : Competition for readers isn’t just fierce, it is awesome — worse than just about anywhere else because of the continental! facts of life. 15 the area of ideas, it has been free trade all along. And that’s what books are, aren't they? Payment from the libraries isn’t a grant, man! 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