AAP Concerns

1. Publishers Applaud Supreme Court’s Strong First Amendment Ruling in Stevens Case
             The Association of American Publishers (AAP) welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in U.S. v. Stevens as an important affirmation of the First Amendment’s free speech guarantee. By a vote of 8-1 the Court struck down a federal statute broadly criminalizing depictions of animal cruelty. The Court found The First Ammendment to be unconstitutionally overbroad, even with its exception for materials with “serious value.”

2. Publishers Express Concern over Government Mandates on Journal Articles
           The Association of American Publishers (AAP) warned today that government mandates requiring free access to journal articles published by the private sector would seriously undermine scientific communication, as well as U.S. jobs, exports and copyright protection. In testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform“Publishers invest hundreds of millions of dollars every year in the screening, peer review, editing and production of these journal articles. It is unfair for the government to expropriate these private-sector products without compensation and make them available free.”

3.Publishers’ May Book Sales Increase 9.8%; Year To-Date Sales Increase by 11.6%
                 Publishers' book sales tracked by the Association of American Publishers (AAP) for the month of May increased by 9.8% percent on the prior year to $715.3 million and were up by 11.6 percent for the year-to-date.The Adult Hardcover category was up 43.2% percent in May with sales of $138.5 million; sales for the year-to-date are up by 21.7% percent. Adult Paperback sales decreased 2.2 percent for the month ($110.7 million) but increased by 15.7 percent for the year so far. Adult Mass Market sales decreased 14.6 percent for May with sales totaling $54.6 million; sales were down by 7.3 percent year-to-date. Hardcover Children’s/YA sales declined 1.3 percent for the month with sales of $58.1 million in May; year-to-date sales are down by 23.3 percent. Children’s/YA Paperback sales decreased 8.1 percent in May with sales totaling $39.9 million; sales fell 6.6 percent for the year-to-date.

4.AAP Inaugurates Fall Books Preview at ALA Annual Conference
              The Association of American Publishers (AAP) announced today that its Trade Libraries Committee, in collaboration with Nancy Pearl, National Public Radio commentator, author of the Book Lust series, librarian action figure hero, and book lover rock star, will host its inaugural Fall Books Preview at the upcoming Annual Conference of the American Library Association in Washington, DC.  Co-sponsored by leading library trade publications Library Journal and EarlyWord, and for the first time at an ALA Conference, the publishing world’s top editorial talent will share their passion for new fall titles in a program filled with behind-the-scenes stories and presented exclusively for the library community. The event will kick off the Conference’s Exhibit activities which get underway at 5:30 on Friday. The presenters will include: