Yuval Noah Harari, in his book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, wrote, “The big challenges of the twenty-first century will be global in nature.... The whole of humankind now constitutes a single civilization, with all people sharing common challenges and opportunities.”

Harari couldn’t be proven right in a more dramatic way than with a pandemic that has challenged us all around the world and put us to a test, regardless of ethnicity, culture, economy, or religious beliefs. One of the things I have learned during my two years as president of the International Publishers Association is the importance of international cooperation. The IPA has been engaged in this for 125 years, but the pandemic reinforced the importance of sticking together, now more than ever.

Why do we maintain an organization like IPA? We do it because, when we are united, we are able to speak with one voice, which is heard loud and clear by all kinds of national and international policymaking bodies. No publishing house alone, no matter how large, could have that impact, in order to represent and defend publishers’ interests worldwide.

The pandemic has affected businesses around the world in different ways. It has also served as an excuse for some to advance their own particular agendas. Copyright is the basic economic model for returning value to creators and publishers, thus encouraging the creation and dissemination of ideas and information. But this model is under attack.

We are all familiar today with expressions like “sharing is good” and “information wants to be free.” They are well-known expressions that seem to be clear and unequivocal, but they hide something that is much more complex and disturbing. Copyright has enabled a world where millions of words, images, songs, and other creative expressions are produced every year. But the companies that now threaten copyright, which are the largest and wealthiest corporations in the history of humankind, operate on a very different business model, one that feeds on free content created by others.

The IPA has prevented this from getting any worse, by actively engaging with policymakers all around the world, to explain to them the value of the copyright framework. And we will continue to do so. But what value does the best copyright protection have if we are not free to publish those works we consider appropriate? If a publisher is harassed, intimidated, threatened, or imprisoned because of the works they publish?

Unfortunately, censorship is growing all over the world. This is why the IPA has a Prix Voltaire, to honor remarkable and inspiring publishers who are willing to face risks to disseminate books they deem valuable to readers and to recognize the bravery of publishers confronting extraordinary hardships. I personally admire all Prix Voltaire recipients. They are an inspiration to us all.

Looking back at one year of pandemic, I can say that publishers have shown themselves to be resilient and innovative in responding to change. We have been innovative, finding new ways to bring books to readers, teachers, and students. We have been generous and responsible citizens, often making educational or scientific resources available for free.

Publishing is a long-term business. Let us keep that in mind. We will overcome this crisis together, of that I am sure. We play such a vital role in society. We entertain with engaging stories, we help educate our children, we provide curated scientific information for the advancement of humanity.

I feel pride at the resourcefulness of our industry, at the energy we find to look for new ways to bring more books to more people, at the way we have stepped up to play our role in supporting society. The value of publishing has been made even clearer.

German author Hermann Hesse wrote, “Without words, without writing, and without books there would be no history, there could be no concept of humanity.”

We contribute to crafting a better world with the books we publish. Let us be proud of our profession.