Creativity Works! welcomes the Opinion of the CULT Committee on the Geo-Blocking Regulation

Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education overwhelmingly voted in favour of Maltese MEP Therese Comodini Cachia’s Draft Opinion yesterday. The Opinion’s objective is to to inform the main responsible Committee (“Internal Market and Consumer Protection” – IMCO) about the possible implications of the legislation can have on the cultural industries.

Among other things, the report highlighted that:

  • Cultural Goods and Services are unique and therefore cannot be treated the same way as traditional goods and services
  • The principle of territoriality is absolutely essential for Europe’s copyright system
  • The proposal could potentially lead to many negative developments such as reducing consumer choice, putting cultural diversity in jeopardy as well as unifying the prices upwards.

The Statement specifically highlights e-Books as products of a nascent and sensitive market which could be shattered by an ill-advised legislation forcing small and medium-sized enterprises to sell to the whole of the EU.

You can read the full statement here.

EIBF is a member of Creativity Works, a coalition of the representatives of the European creative and cultural sectors.

EIBF AND FEP WELCOME THE POSITION OF THE COMPETITIVENESS COUNCIL ON THE PROPOSAL FOR A REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL ON ADDRESSING UNJUSTIFIED GEO-BLOCKING

EIBF Logo

The European & International Booksellers Federation – EIBF – and the Federation of European Publishers – FEP – welcome the compromise text voted by the Competitiveness Council, at its meeting of 28 November.

Book industry bodies press Ankara for unconditional release of Aslı Erdoğan, Necmiye Alpay and all prisoners of conscience

Painting

The Federation of European Publishers (FEP), supported by the International Publishers Association (IPA) and the European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF), issue a common statement calling for the immediate release of Aslı Erdoğan and Necmiye Alpay.

The full statement can be downloaded in attachment. 

Boekblad report on EIBF and FEP representing booksellers in Brussels

“Making the Booksellers visible in Europe” is the title of the article in the October issue of Boekblad, the Dutch magazine specialised on the book trade. The article explains in detail how the book sector has to continuously reinvent itself to keep up with competitors, adding that publishers and booksellers play an indispensable role not only in the European economy but also in the cultural and intellectual life of the EU citizens.

Three more best practices in the Börsenblatt from the EIBF Conference

Börsenblatt

After the article in last month’s Börsenblatt, the official magazine of the Frankfurt Book Fair has listed three more best practices from our members, as heard at the EIBF Conference held on the 20th of October.

The three new best practices they summarised have been:

  1. Lünebuch’s delivery system
  2. A tool for online cooperation and analysis by the SLF
  3. The “Indie Bloom” in Australia

3 best practices of the Book Trade – as appeared in the Börsenblatt

Börsenblatt

Börsenblatt, the official magazine of the Frankfurt Book Fair, has published an article listing the best practices heard at the EIBF Conference in Frankfurt, to be followed up by three more in next month’s edition.

This month, the magazine detailed the following ideas:

  1. The Swedish Loyalty Program by Maria Hammerfors, CEO of Akademikbokhandeln
  2. The Local-First Initiative by Betsy Burton, owner of “The King’s English Bookshop” (United States)
  3. The “Book Bus” by Rosamund de la Hey from the “Mainstreet Trading Company”, UK.

You can find a pdf version of the article in attachment. 

EIBF press release on the ECJ judgment regarding e-Lending

The EIBF – European & International Booksellers Federation – has taken note of the judgment handed down by the ECJ with the greatest concern.

Assimilating e-lending to the lending of physical books is a very dangerous decision which does not take into account the economic reality of the book chain and is likely to lead to serious disruptions on the nascent e-book market.

Booksellers have committed themselves wholeheartedly to e-bookselling, in order to be able to offer readers the possibility to read what they want, when they want, and in the format of their choice. Today, between 70% and 87% of booksellers are present on the e-book market, especially on the leading language markets such as those of Germany, France, the UK, the Netherlands and Spain.

However, the e-book market is still a very uncertain one and at the present time, no retailer can claim that selling e-books and e-readers on national markets is a profitable activity.

For centuries, the activities of selling and lending have been able to co-exist and strengthen each other to the mutual benefit of both communities and readers. Things have changed recently with the emergence of e-books and e-readers. The book chain has been working at solutions which are sustainable for authors, publishers and booksellers while guaranteeing a healthy and diverse offer to consumers, and this should be continued.

European libraries are a great asset for consumers and play a major part in the promotion of literacy and cultural life more generally. Booksellers very much value the crucial role of public libraries. The common objective of booksellers and libraries is to put books into the hands of readers so bookshops and libraries play complementary roles in the community.

However this can only be possible if the eco-system of the book sector, a chain of interdependencies where all members are dependent on each other, is fully respected for the ultimate benefit of readers.

EIBF looks forward to continuing to work in that direction, along with the book chain and European decision-makers.

For further information please contact EIBF Director, Fran Dubruille

fran@europeanbooksellers.eu or + 32 475 40 32 34

Börsenverein Reform : Kyra Dreher becomes joint Managing Director

The Börsenverein has published a press release for the occasion that on the 1st of December, 2016, Dr. Kyra Dreher will step down from her role as Co-President of the European and International Booksellers Federation to take up the position of Managing Director of the Joint Office of the Börsenverein’s Committees.

“Dr. Kyra Dreher, who previously functioned as head of the office of the Retail Booksellers Committee, will become sole Managing Director of the Börsenverein’s Joint Office of the Committees starting on 1st December. Rolf Nüthen, who acted as head of the Publishers Committee since 2008, will retire on 30th November. In her new capacity, Dreher will be responsible for the work of the Committees as well as for coordinating the interest groups and acting as the interface between these groups and the executive board. In the future, the three member groups will be represented at the Joint Office by three department heads: Petra Fust will manage the Publishers section, Kerstin Rothkirch the Retail Booksellers section and Sarah Harnecker the Wholesalers section. The amendment to the Börsenverein charter required to institute these changes was already approved at the Annual General Meeting on 24th June 2016.”

You can read the Börsenverein’s whole press release here

EIBF WELCOMES THE CONCLUSIONS OF THE ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL AFFAIRS COUNCIL ON THE COMMISSION’S VAT ACTION PLAN

EIBF

The European & International Booksellers Federation- EIBF – is delighted that the Ecofin Council, at its meeting of 26 May, expressed its full support to the lines of action proposed by the Commission in its VAT Action Plan published on 7 April.

Booksellers have embraced the digital revolution and a growing number of booksellers are providing their customers with an e-book offer, on their home market, and increasingly across borders. “The Commitment of the Commission and the Council to reduce VAT compliance burdens for SME’s and micro SME’s, both within Member States and across borders is a real relief” said Fabian Paagman, co-President.

Added co-President Jean-Luc Treutenaere: “ A long battle is on the verge of being won: EIBF has always advocated that books should carry the same VAT rate, independently from their format and we welcome the fact that this is will soon become a reality for the those of the Member States which wish to do so.”

Co-President Kyra Dreher noted “By choosing to apply the principle of subsidiarity, and present a proposal for increased flexibility for Member States, the European decision makers are given a positive sign that the bookselling industry warmly welcomes.”

For further information please contact EIBF Director, Fran Dubruille
+32 475 40 32 34 or fran@europeanbooksellers.eu

Download the PDF version of this press release in attachment. 

EIBF WELCOMES COMMISSION’S DRAFT REGULATION ON GEO-BLOCKING

EIBF

The European & International Booksellers Federation- EIBF – has noted with interest the Commission’s proposal for a regulation on geo-blocking made public today.

We welcome the fact that laws of Member States will be applied with respect to sales of books.

We note that the Commission plans to review the possible inclusion of electronically supplied services protected by copyright including e-books two years after the entry into force of the regulation.  EIBF is very happy to co-operate with the European Commission, and provide decision-makers with the information necessary to properly assess the situation for the wellbeing of the bookselling industry and European consumers.

Booksellers have embraced the digital revolution and a growing number of booksellers are providing their customers with an e-book offer, on their home market, and increasingly across borders.  In spite of the fact that the market is indeed extremely limited – only 1% of European readers want to have access to e-books across borders, according to a recent European Barometer- major players on the e-book market are keen to be present on as many markets as possible, for strategic marketing reasons.

While the larger and more mature language markets in the European Union benefit from an organized  and experienced physical and digital distribution system, a significant number of markets are structurally still working hard at  organizing their e-distribution and need more time to build up a performing technical offer.

In addition, some crucial infrastructural issues, like access to fast broadband in European homes and the implementation of a European online debit card system for the benefit of retailers and consumers, still have to be addressed.

EIBF welcomes the opportunity of contributing to this process.

For further information please contact EIBF Director, Fran Dubruille
+32 475 40 32 34 or fran@europeanbooksellers.eu

Subscribe to