International Publishers Association

The International Publishers Association (IPA, originally Congrès international des éditeurs) is an international publishing industry federation of national publisher associations representing book and journal publishing, founded in 1896 in Paris. It is a non-profit and non-governmental organization, to promote and protect publishing and to raise awareness for publishing in the context of economic, cultural and political development. The IPA represents the interests of the publishing industry on an international level. The IPA's two core pillars are the promotion of copyright and the protection of the freedom to publish. The IPA actively opposes censorship and promotes literacy. Since 2005, the IPA has awarded the Freedom to Publish Prize, renamed the Prix Voltaire in 2016. In 2022, it introduced two additional prizes, a Champion Award and an Innovation Award. History The organization was founded in 1896 in Paris, France as the Congrès international des éditeurs (International Publishers Congress). The initial aim of the IPA was to ensure that countries throughout the world adopted copyright law and implemented the then new international copyright treaty, the 1886 Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. The organization was active mostly in Europe during its first half century. It provided a platform for national publishers to voice their concerns for future important issues. From its first year, members called to countries to eliminate custom duties to intellectual products, and the tenth Congress in 1933 dealt for the first time with book fairs.