Bring Bandes Dessinees to the USA

Publishing Trends recently offered this nice article on the obstacles of bring French comics to outside markets, in particular the United States. A Highlight:

Coissard has ideas on how the countries can work together. He would like to visit American publishers more often. “They don’t travel very much,” he said, “We don’t see you at Frankfurt. If you don’t want to trouble, we should come to you.” Also, could American publishers please tone down their contracts, whose excessive terms are “at odds with the French notion of moral rights”? (Sorry, won’t happen, Siegel told him.) Mostly, Coissard stressed that American publishers should have “more faith in the capacity of the American reader to take interest in the world.” Turning to Frank and Siegel, he added politely, “I hope I didn’t shock you.”