Australian schools pay $9 million each year to display web pages that are available freely on the internet. They are even charged for displaying thumbnail images of book covers on their school intranet sites.

They and other institutions pay another $11 million each year to collection agencies for the display of works whose authors can't be found, which the agencies then pool and distribute to members who weren't the authors.

Addressing a copyright forum at the National Library on Friday, the co-chair of the Productivity Commission's intellectual property inquiry, Karen Chester, said she regarded her recommendation that Australia adopt a US-style system of "fair use" as more important than the recommendation that Australia allow the free import of books.

Removing the remaining restrictions on importing books would cut prices by $25 million. On average books bought in Australia are 20 per cent more expensive than identical titles bought in places such as Britain.