All Time
1886
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Berne Convention For The Protection Of Literary And Artistic Works first signed by Belgium, France, Germany, Haiti, Italy, Liberia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom.
1887
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Net price principle, where publishers offer booksllers a discount as long as books are sold at no less than a price fixed by the publisher, adopted in Germany.
1893
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Creation of United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property in Bern (BRPI) with a staff complement of 7.
1896 | Paris
IPA President
Georges Masson (FR)
IPA Secretary General
Lucien Layus – honorary
Other IPA notable occasions
IPA founded as International Publishers Congress, based in Paris.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Berne Convention first version completed on 4 May at Paris.
1897 | Bruxelles
IPA President
Emile Bruylant (BE)
1899 | London
IPA President
John Murray (UK)
1901 | Leipzig
IPA President
Albert Brockhaus (DE)
IPA Secretary General
Alfred Melly
Other IPA notable occasions
IPA office moves to Berne (Place du Théâtre 2).
1906 | Milan
IPA President
Tito Ricordi (IT)
1910 | Amsterdam
IPA President
W.P. van Stockum (NL)
1908 | Madrid
IPA President
José Ruiz Lôpez (ES)
1913 | Budapest
IPA President
Georges Masson (FR)
Other IPA notable occasions
IPA publishes: Technical Vocabulary of Publishing in Seven Languages.
1921 | Paris
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
PEN International founded in London.
1922
IPA President
W.P. van Stockum (NL)
IPA Secretary General
R. von Stürler
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
League of Nations creates the International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation (later UNESCO).
1927
IPA President
Ove Tryde (DK)
1931 | Paris
IPA President
Louis Hachette (FR)
Other IPA notable occasions
IPA office moves to Geneva (5, Avenue Marc-Monnier).
1933 | Brussels
IPA President
Théophile Zech-Levie (BE)
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Nazi book burnings.
1935
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
In the UK, Allen, John and Richard Lane found Penguin Books with the intention of making cheap paperbacks available.
1936
IPA President
Stanley Unwin (UK).
1938 | Leipzig
IPA President
Karl Baur (DE).
1946
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
The International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation becomes the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
1947
IPA President
Stanley Unwin (UK).
1948
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 10 December 1948 Berne Convention, Brussels Text adopted, remaining in force in some countries even after the 1967 Stockholm and 1971 Paris revisions, until WTO TRIPS 1994.
1949
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
First post-war Frankfurt Book Fair held in St. Paul’s Church.
1950
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
UNESCO Florence Agreement on the Importation of Educational, Scientific and Cultural Materials approved.
1952
IPA Secretary General
Hans Conzett (1915 – 1996) – honorary.
Other IPA notable occasions
IPA office moves to Zurich.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Universal Copyright Convention adopted in Berne, Switzerland.
1953
Other IPA notable occasions
International Publishers Congress renamed as International Publishers Association.
1954 | Zürich
IPA President
Gustav Keckeis (CH).
1956 | Florence
IPA President
Antonio Vallardi (IT).
1959 | Vienna
IPA President
Fritz Ross (AT).
1960
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Penguin Books is unsuccessfully prosecuted under the UK’s Obscene Publications Act 1959 for the publication of D. H. Lawrence’s 1928 novel Lady Chatterley’s Lover.
1961
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) founded Adoption of Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations administered jointly by WIPO, International Labour Organization (ILO), and UNESCO.
1962 | Barcelona
IPA President
Santiago Salvat Espasa (ES).
1963
IPA Secretary General
M. C. J. Hjalmar Pehrsson.
Other IPA notable occasions
IPA relocates to Geneva (Avenue Miremont 3).
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
First edition of Bologna Children’s Book Fair.
1964 | Washington
IPA President
Storer Lunt (USA).
Other IPA notable occasions
IPA creates Educational Publishing Group.
1967
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Berne Convention Stockholm Conference, revision of the Berne Convention, Brussels Text, to be completed in 1971 at Paris.
1968 | Amsterdam
IPA President
Ernest Lefebvre (NL)
Other IPA notable occasions
STM Group established within IPA
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Groupement des éditeurs de livres de la Communauté (GELC) founded, becoming the Federation of European Publishers in 1990.
1969
IPA Secretary General
Alexis Koutchoumow.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
First edition of Cairo International Book Fair.
1970
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property becomes the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) based in Geneva.
1971
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
The first edition of the Specialist Publishers’ Exhibition for Librarians is held in London, becoming The London Book Fair in 1977. Berne Convention, Paris Text adopted: the current version of the Convention, with the Berne Annex, valid for some countries until adoption of the WTO TRIPS Agreement in 1994 and for some countries still today.
1972 | Paris
IPA President
John Boon (UK)
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
First edition of Index on Censorship published, UNESCO Year of the Book.
1976 | Kyoto
IPA President
Per A. Sjögren (SE)
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Nairobi Protocol to the Florence Agreement approved.
1978
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Grupo Ibero-Americano de Editores (GIE) founded.
1980 | Stockholm
IPA President
Manuel Salvat Dalmau (ES)
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Reprography Rights working group created by the Copyright Committees of the International Publishers Association and STM – the group later becomes the International Federation of Reprographic Rights Organisations.
1981
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
First edition of the Salon du Livre de Paris (renamed Livre Paris in 2016).
1984 | Mexico City
IPA President
Johan Somerwil (NL).
IPA Publishing News 1984
1986
Other IPA notable occasions
1st IPA Copyright Symposium, Heidelberg.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
IPA & STM Copyright Committees form Joint Copyright Working Group – later the International Publishing Associations Coordination Committee (IPACC) with FEP, EPC and others.
Flyers from 100 years of Berne Convention.
1987
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
First edition of Guadalajara International Book Fair, Article 19 founded in London.
1988 | London
IPA President
Andrew Neilly (USA)
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
International Federation for Reproduction Rights Organisations (IFRRO) formally established USA becomes signatory to the Berne Convention.
23rd Congress of the IPA – London – Congress Digest
1990
Other IPA notable occasions
2nd IPA Copyright Symposium, Paris.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
GELC becomes Federation of European Publishers .
1992 | New Delhi
IPA President
Fernando Guedes (PT)
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
IFEX founded in 1992 in Canada, African Publishers Network (APNET) and Asia Pacific Publishers Association founded.
1993
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Norwegian publisher William Nygaard shot 3 times outside his home for publishing Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Rio de Janeiro results in a multilateral treaty.
1994
Other IPA notable occasions
‘3rd IPA Copyright Symposium, Turin, STM Association established in the Hague.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Amazon.com founded. Russian Federation joins the Berne Convention.
Piracy of Intellectual Property and the Measures Needed to Counter it
1996 | Barcelona
IPA President
Alain Gründ (FR).
Other IPA notable occasions
IPA Centenary Celebrations in Barcelona IPA. Vice Presidents: Pere Vicens (ES), Charles Ellis (USA).
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Adoption of WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT).
1998
Other IPA notable occasions
‘4th IPA Copyright Symposium, Tokyo.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Digital Millenium Media Copyright Act adopted. Google founded.
1999
IPA Secretary General
Benoît Müller.
2000 | Buenos Aires
IPA President
Pere Vicens (ES).
Other IPA notable occasions
IPA Vice Presidents: Asoke K Ghosh (IN), Ana Maria Cabanellas (AR).
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Cartagena Protocol to the CBD adopted.
2001
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Madrid becomes first UNESCO World Book Capital City, a program instigated by IPA President Pere Vicens. IPA is an ongoing member of the WBCC advisory committee.
2002
Other IPA notable occasions
‘5th IPA Copyright Symposium, Accra.
2003
IPA Secretary General
Jens Bammel.
2004 | Berlin
IPA President
Ana María Cabanellas (AR).
Other IPA notable occasions
First female IPA President. IPA Vice Presidents: Richard Rudick (USA), Herman Spruijt (NL).
2005
Other IPA notable occasions
IPA launches Freedom to Publish Prize, later renamed the Prix Voltaire.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
ASEAN Book Publishers Association founded.
2006
Other IPA notable occasions
6th IPA Copyright Symposium, Montreal, Shalah Lahiji (IR) awarded Prix Voltaire.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Wattpad founded in Canada, Storytel founded in Sweden.
2007
Other IPA notable occasions
Trevor Ncube (ZW) awarded Prix Voltaire.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Amazon Kindle launched.
2008 | Seoul
IPA President
Herman Spruijt (NL).
Other IPA notable occasions
IPA relocates to new Geneva offices (Avenue de France 23), Ragip Zarakolu (TR) awarded Prix Voltaire. IPA Vice Presidents: Herman Spruijt (NL). Yu Kanehara (JP).
2009
Other IPA notable occasions
Sihem Bensedrine (TN) awarded Prix Voltaire. IPA creates Educational Publishers Forum.
2010
IPA President
YS Chi (USA).
Other IPA notable occasions
7th IPA Copyright Symposium, Abu Dhabi, I. Shovkhalov & V. Kogan-Yasni of DOSH (Chechnya-RU) awarded Prix Voltaire. IPA Vice Presidents: Ibrahim el Moallem (EG), Alain Kouck (FR).
2011
Other IPA notable occasions
Bui Chat (VN) awarded Prix Voltaire.
2012 | Cape Town
Other IPA notable occasions
Jonathan “Zapiro” Shapiro (ZA) awarded Prix Voltaire. EPF launches ‘What Works?’ conference at London Book Fair.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
WIPO’s Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances adopted.
2013
Other IPA notable occasions
IPA Vice Presidents: Ibrahim el Moallem (EG), Richard Charkin (UK).
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Adoption of the WIPO’s Marrakesh VIP Treaty.
2014
Other IPA notable occasions
Ihar Lohvinau (BY) awarded Prix Voltaire.
2015 | Bangkok
IPA President
Richard Charkin (UK).
IPA Secretary General
José Borghino.
Other IPA notable occasions
IPA Vice President: Michiel Kolman (NL).
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
Bangladeshi publisher, Faisal Arefin Dipan murdered because of books he published. Gui Minhai disappears from his appartment in Thailand.
2016 | London
Other IPA notable occasions
Raif Badawi (SA) awarded Prix Voltaire. Revised IPA Statutes create new independent Copyright, Freedom to Publish, and Membership Committees.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) adopted.
2017
IPA President
Michiel Kolman (NL).
Other IPA notable occasions
Turhan Günay and Evrensel awarded Prix Voltaire. IPA Vice President: Hugo Setzer (MX). IPA joins CLA, FEP, PA, and PLS in sponsoring the annual Charles Clark Memorial Lecture. IPA joins IFRRO’s International PLR Committee. IPA partners with WIPO to produce annual global publishing statistics reports
2018 | New Delhi
Other IPA notable occasions
Gui Minhai (SE/CN) awarded Prix Voltaire, Faisal Arefin Dipan and Liu Xiaobo awarded posthumous Prix Voltaire Special Awards. 1st IPA Regional Seminar, Lagos.
2019
IPA President
Hugo Setzer (MX).
Other IPA notable occasions
Khaled Lotfy (EG) awarded Prix Voltaire, 2nd IPA Regional Seminar, Nairobi, 3rd IPA Regional Seminar, Amman. IPA Vice President: Bodour Al Qasimi.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
SDG Book Club launches at Bologna Children’s Book Fair,
European Union Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market adopted
2020 | Lillehammer (cancelled)
Other IPA notable occasions
Liberal Publishing House (VN) awarded Prix Voltaire. IPA holds first ever online General Assembly with great success.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
IPA-United Nations launch the Sustainable Development Goals Publishers Compact.
2021
IPA President
Bodour Al Qasimi (UAE).
Other IPA notable occasions
IPA Vice President: Karine Pansa. IPA membership comprises 86 organisations from 71 countres.
World IP/FtP/ book-related developments
SDG Book Club launches at Bologna Children’s Book Fair,
European Union Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market adopted