Der Sommer steht vor der Tür

A New Europe for Authors?

Now the summer is here with wonderful weather, sunshine and warm summer nights for weeks ahead. Most people in Europe are right now preparing to go on summer holiday, the majority somewhere in Europe, yours truly included. Well, as a writer and published author - and a blogger - I am never really on holiday in the more classical vegetating sense, for I bring my work with me. But this year, recently, something happened which has started to worry me slightly.

The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union and thus the Single Market which includes both cultural and economic cooperation. Now the country will have to renegotiate all treaties and deals with the European Union, including cultural cooperation and intellectual property. In the long run, which  consequences will  there be for writers and artists and how will these play out? Let's first take a brief look at the publishing industry.

Time for the UK to renegotiate everything in Europe - or beg.

As far as I can see, the only snag for us writers and authors lies in published books. Ebooks published in America, for instance, are not covered by intellectual property rights specific to each country but are part of a global arrangement. So any change likely to affect authors solely apply to published books, published in Britain by a British publisher and sold on the European market, or vice versa, books published in another EU country and destined for the British market. So, in my own case and like so many other authors, the new post-Brexit reality is not directly relevant; but I know it will be for many authors, something which I find rather depressing.

A final issue I would like to bring up here is the status of the English language in Europe. Not that I worry that a reduced role inside the European Union for English (oh yes, this is being discussed as I write this) will import to Europeans who are writing in English for a more global audience... but still. A reduced role, with lower prestige for the English language, both in economic terms and cultural status, must be foreseen. For without the United Kingdom inside the European Union, there invariably will be far fewer literary and cultural activities for the English language and those who work with it daily.

The coast of Denmark, early summer: light at the end of the rainbow.

But we will have to wait and see and not expect the worst. On this final comment, I wish you a happy summer holiday, whether you bring along your work or not. Remember there is always gold at the end of the rainbow.

Greetings from an English-speaker from Denmark and Germany.

Steen Alexander