HR1349 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1349 LRB100 24340 MST 43653 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives wish to commend The Authors Guild for its longstanding service to and advocacy on behalf of authors in the State of Illinois and in the United States; and

WHEREAS, The Authors Guild is the nation's oldest and largest professional organization for writers, with over 9,000 current members that include novelists, historians, journalists, poets, academics, and independently published authors; and

WHEREAS, Since 1912, The Authors Guild has been supporting and protecting American authors' constitutional and moral rights to write and speak freely and to benefit from their work, as well as providing working writers with the knowledge, support, and resources they need to succeed; and

WHEREAS, The Authors Guild advocates on issues of copyright, fair contracts, free speech, and fair tax treatment, provides legal advice to its members on all issues pertinent to the writing profession, lobbies for authors on Capitol Hill, negotiates with publishers and other industry players for fair contract terms and treatment, and litigates when authors' rights come under threat; and

WHEREAS, Authors are facing unprecedented challenges in the form of declining incomes from writing as a consequence of changes wrought on the publishing industry by the technologies and pressures exerted by corporate interests; and

WHEREAS, The Authors Guild provides important educational and informal resources and tools to assist authors in understanding and surviving the changing publishing landscape and provides community to assist in the exchange of knowledge for those who often are isolated in their working life; and

WHEREAS, The Authors Guild is motivated by the belief that a diverse literary landscape that encompasses the entire range of expression of ideas, stories, and experiences of all American people is essential to our democracy; and

WHEREAS, The work of authors is vital to a democratic society; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE HUNDREDTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we commend The Authors Guild for its service to the community of authors in the State of Illinois and in the United States; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to The Authors Guild as a symbol of our respect and esteem.