GERMAN PUBLISHERS AND BOOKSELLERS ASSOCIATION LODGES SECOND COMPLAINT AGAINST AMAZON/AUDIBLE

After several months of contemplation, the Börsenverein has filed a formal complaint against audiobook retailer Audible at the Federal Cartel Office in Bonn in late August.

Audible which is a subsidiary of retailing giant Amazon is the sole provider of audio books for both Amazon and ITunes. As electronic audiobook sales in Germany are almost exclusively made through these two providers (90 % market share), the company holds a dominant position for the distribution of digital audio books.
Last year Audible started to terminate its contracts with several small scale audiobook publishers and presented them with new conditions. These entailed the acceptance of a new digital flat rate model, which results in a much lower profit margin. For many of these small scale enterprises, the acceptance of these conditions would mean the de facto surge of their activities as their work would become unsustainable.   Notwithstanding, Audible has decided to push through its proposed model and has pressured publishers into accepting the new conditions. Resisting parties were threatened with the delisting of their entire content from Audible’s database, which would in practice prevent them from selling their content on the German market.

The Börsenverein sees in this behaviour a clear abuse of the company’s dominant position in the German market for the distribution of digital audio books.  Alexander Skipis, the Chief Executive of the Börsenverein was quoted in the weekly magazine Der Spiegel with saying that “The business model proposed by Audible and Amazons aims at destroying established bookselling structures and as such poses a threat to cultural plurality in Germany”

Der Spiegel has moreover reported that the Börsenverein is not alone in its endeavour and that many more organisations have already filed formal complaints against the behaviour of Audible.

Apart from the German Cartel Office, the Börsenverein has also filed a complaint at the European Commission in Brussels. The institution has already two complaints against Amazon pending, one coming from Germany and one from the United Kingdom.

More Information (only available in German)

http://www.buchreport.de/nachrichten/verlage/verlage_nachricht/datum/2015/09/20/auf-konfrontationskurs-mit-amazon.htm

http://boersenblatt.net/artikel-boersenverein_reicht_gegen_amazon-tochter_audible_beschwerde_beim_bundeskartellamt_und_bei_eu-kommission_ein.1028387.html

https://magazin.spiegel.de/digital/index_SP.html#SP/2015/39/138749236

 

Download the PDF Version of the Press Release

EIBF CONGRATULATES THE WINNERS OF THE GERMAN BOOKSELLERS PRIZE

Bookcase

EIBF Co-Presidents Fabian Paagman and Jean-Luc Treutenaere are delighted to congratulate their colleague Co-President Kyra Dreher and all German winners of this year’s German Booksellers Prize, announced yesterday at the Awards Ceremony in Frankfurt.

The Prize was created in 2015 by the German Ministry of Culture and Media in an attempt to strengthen locally owned bookshops and to raise awareness about the important role that they play in promoting cultural diversity within Germany.

Out of 614 applications, there are 108 winners grouped in three categories. Three bookstores won the Prize for Best Bookstore, carrying a prize of 25.000 €. There are five winners in the category of Most Valuable Bookstore, each awarded with 14 000 €. Finally 100 bookshops received 7000 € in prize money for winning the category Outstanding Bookstore. The three winners in the top category are:  Artes liberals – Buchladen from Heidelberg, Literatur Moths from Munich and Rote Zora from Merzig. All three were especially lauded for their cultural commitment and their innovative business models.

A special mention goes to Wist – Der Literaturladen, which is prominently featured in the upcoming documentary Books under Pressure: A Controversy by Siegfried Ressel. It won first Prize in the Most Valuable Bookshop category.

The European and International Booksellers Federation warmly welcomes the German Government’s acknowledgement of the paramount  role that bookshops play in highlighting the diversity of the cultural sector and Europe’s rich literary heritage. EIBF has repeatedly stressed that the existence of a varied and diverse range of bookstores is vital for local communities all over Europe and the world. Bookshops play a crucial role in fostering literacy and education in society and in promoting both aspiring and established authors in their communities.

Taking to heart the words of American Author James Patterson “A literate citizenry is a better citizenry” (https://vimeo.com/139473737) the bookselling community encourages any initiative that aims at strengthening the visibility of bookshops. EIBF Co-Presidents wish to express their warmest congratulations to the German Government for creating such a valuable Prize and hope that other Governments may follow its example.

More Information (in German)

http://www.deutscher-buchhandlungspreis.de/preistraeger2015/

http://www.deutschlandradiokultur.de/deutscher-buchhandlungspreis-verliehen-lob-auf-den.1013.de.html?dram:article_id=331356

http://boersenblatt.net and http://boersenblatt.net/1027657/template/bb_t_bildergalerien/#artikel-deutscher_buchhandlungspreis

http://www.buchreport.de/nachrichten/handel/handel_nachricht/datum/2015/09/17/850000-euro-fuer-die-buchlandschaftspflege.htm

 

EIBF STRONGLY SUPPORTS THE GERMAN COMPLAINT AGAINST AMAZON

EIBF

EIBF  STRONGLY SUPPORTS THE GERMAN COMPLAINT AGAINST AMAZON

The European and International Booksellers Federation  today announced its strong support for the decision by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association (Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels) to file  an official complaint against Amazon with the German Federal Antitrust Authority.

While acknowledging the existence of different laws regarding competition in the Member States of the European Union and internationally, the European and International Booksellers Federation has always strongly supported the position that consumers must have wide access to a rich and varied network of retailers. 

EIBF SOUTIENT PLEINEMENT LA PLAINTE DÉPOSÉE PAR LES LIBRAIRES ALLEMANDS CONTRE AMAZON

La fédération européenne et internationale des libraires – EIBF – soutient pleinement la décision de l’association allemande des libraires et des éditeurs (Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels) d’introduire  une plainte officielle contre Amazon auprès des autorités allemandes de la concurrence.

Quel que soit le cadre législatif concerné, qu’il soit  national ou international, EIBF a toujours affirmé haut et fort  qu’il y va de de l’intérêt des consommateurs  de bénéficier du plus  large accès possible à un réseau de détaillants riche et diversifié.

EIBF at Frankfurt Book Fair 2021

Following last year’s digital Fair, EIBF’s team was excited to join the in-person events at FBF 2021

 

The 73rd Frankfurt Book Fair took place between 20 and 24 October. While scaled down in size, the five-day event still attracted a large crowd of book enthusiasts. The event attracted over 25,000 visitors with events on the grounds, while remote attendees could access a large online programming. This year’s guest of honour was Canada, reprising the position after the COVID-19 pandemic derailed the 2020 plans. Under the theme of ‘Singular Plurality’, Canada staged various talks, events, and exhibitions spotlighting the diversity in the country. 

 

canada-fbf

 

EIBF team attended the professional fair days, taking the opportunity to meet with colleagues, members, and wider industry professionals to support network and development activities in the upcoming months. Read more on what we have been up to in the past week. 

 

Tuesday, 20 October 
 
EIBF Director Julie Belgrado joined the Frankfurt Book Fair Opening Ceremony, an event which celebrated book sector’s resilience and creativity. The opening ceremony featured prominent political and literary guests, with serious speeches full of cheerful moments. Margaret Atwood joined the event virtually to celebrate Canada as Guest of Honour, highlighting all of the things that “would” have been if last year’s fair took place in person, including the maple syrup fountains. 

 

ma-fbf

 

Wednesday, 21 October

On Wednesday, we joined the official opening of the Bulgarian Book Association stand, which was opened by Bulgaria’s Vice-President Iliana Iotova. In her speech, the Vice-President highlighted the importance of books for the development of a society. According to Iotova, more needs to be done to support the development of the book sector in the country: “Reducing VAT to 9% is timely, but it cannot be a measure only in times of crisis. We have to motivate the Bulgarian authors.”

 

abk-meeting

 

We also participated at the ‘Sustainability Summit: How can the book sector address climate change?’, a dedicated event which brought together book chain representatives to discuss how the sector players can work together to support the climate change action. As Badour Al Quasimi, President of the International Publishers Association said: “As world leaders gather at COP26, the publishing industry must not underestimate its role in combating climate change. The IPA is in a unique position to ensure our voices are heard & that we can play a significant role in tackling this pressing global issue.”

 

sustainability-summit

 

EIBF’s Director Julie Belgrado shared the various initiatives booksellers around the world are implementing to help spotlight climate change, highlighting the unique position booksellers have in reaching and interacting with customers – thus helping them make informed decisions on sustainability. 

 

sustainability-summit-group

 

Thursday, 22 October 

 

intergraf-panel

 

On Thursday, we attended the Intergraf’s conference on ‘Shaping the future with books’. The one-day event spotlighted very interesting topics, such as the book market and the digital shift challenges for the future, how the reading habits of youth have changed, the climate change challenges and the impact of e-books on the market. 

In addition, we joined the annual FEP’s rendez-vous, which focused on analysing the book market trends and highlighting the resilience and recovery of the European publishing sector, despite weaknesses persisting in some countries. The event also called for fair solutions in ensuring access to books, including in libraries, and introduced the 'Fair Lesen' initiative, led by a coalition of German authors and publishers.

 

Member meetings 

Over the three days at the Fair, we met several of EIBF’s members who joined the Fair, including Jessica Sänger and Robert Duchstein from the Börsenverein (German Publishers and Booksellers Association), Dessislava Alexieva from the Bulgarian Book Association, Tanja Messerli from the Swiss Bookseller and Publishers Association and Inara Belinkaja from the Latvian Booksellers Association. 

sbvv-meeting

 

latvia-meeting

 

We were also very happy to catch up with our associate members Stephanie Krawehl from the Lesesaal Buchhandlung in Hamburg, Germany, and Giovanni Hoepli from Hoepli International Bookstore in Milano, Italy. 

It was delightful to be able to meet so many of our members in person again. We are looking forward to the next time. 

eibf-fbf

 

Amazon forced to drop anti-competitive clauses from its contracts with publishers

After a complaint filed by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association (Börsenverein) and by the Booksellers Association of the UK & Ireland, Amazon has finally decided to stop putting so-called “parity clauses” (aka. MFN clauses) in its contracts, which obliged publishers to inform Amazon if they were to offer retailers better terms than to the American giant, and subsequently to offer the same improved terms to them. Such clauses posed a direct threat to healthy competition in the e-book sector and subsequently to the quality and quantity of books on offer in bookshops. Amazon’s decision is therefore a huge victory for the book sector and for the European culture at large.

The European Commission is now asking members of the e-book sector to provide feedback on whether Amazon’s commitments are sufficient enough to restore healthy competition to the market.

The news came only days after a subsidiary of Amazon, Audible – following yet another complaint by the Börsenverein – has given up on its problematic exclusivity deals with Apple concerning audio-books.

The Commission’s Press Release      

The Börsenverein’s Press Release

EIBF STRONGLY OPPOSES ANY FORM OF CENSORSHIP AND SUPPORTS ITS NEW ZEALAND COLLEAGUES

EIBF Logo

Much to the astonishment of the Book Community, the Film and Literature Board of Review in New Zealand prohibited the sale and distribution of Mr. Dawe’s book under penalty of a fine up to 10 000 Euro.

 

Mr Dawe’s wrote and self-published his novel in an attempt to encourage young boys to pick up reading. He observed at his local school, that many students were unable to relate to the classical literature put in front of them. His strategy seemingly worked, as the book was well received by young audience and also more and more teachers were picking up the books, to be read in class.

The publishers of New Zealand were united in their appraisal of the novel and it has earned both the Margaret Mahy Book of the Year Award as well as the top prize in the Young Adult Fiction category at the 2013 New Zealand Post Children’s Book Awards. This confirms that the book has struck a chord with many in New Zealand.

Regarding this widespread appraisal, the decision made by the Government of New Zealand to temporarily ban this book is even more incomprehensible. It cannot be that the interest of one group, the organisation Family First, is put ahead of all the rest of New Zealand.

The last weeks have seen an astonishing level of support from both authors and booksellers in and outside of New Zealand. Also more and more citizens of the country start to show their discontent with the government’s decision.

Books convey culture and culture empowers citizens. Booksellers stand for diversity of expression so that everyone can be properly educated and informed. The outspoken support Mr Dawe has received so far, gives testimony to this statement.

The European and International Booksellers Federation would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm its strong  belief in and support for freedom of speech, publishing and bookselling.
Freedom of expression is a fundamental democratic principle which must be respected in all circumstances. It is the backbone of publishing and bookselling and we as booksellers defend and support it in the strongest terms.

New Zealand booksellers support international action against Amazon

booksellers

The association of New Zealand booksellers strongly backs the European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF) as they join the battle against online retailer Amazon.

Booksellers NZ is a member of the EIBF, which yesterday announced support for the German Publishers and Booksellers Federation, which has filed an official complaint against Amazon with the German Federal Antitrust Authority.

“While booksellers’ and publishers’ battle with Amazon has been long standing, the latest cause for concern is the actions taken by Amazon to deny full access to its services to international publisher Hachette,” said Lincoln Gould, CEO of Booksellers NZ.

Image removed.“We agree with the EIBF that, while there are different laws in different member states regarding competition, we support the position that consumers must have wide access to a rich and varied network of retailers,” said Gould.

“However, Amazon’s business model has the effect of limiting this wide range of options for consumers.

“They sell books at a loss in order to attract customers to their other services, and they are apparently trying to deny consumers full access to the output of at least one major publisher, Hachette,” said Gould.

In their statement the EIBF said:
“Consumers are the ultimate losers when single companies abuse a dominant market position to impose unfair business conditions on providers. Conversely, consumers and societies benefit when retailers are operating on a level playing field and there is healthy competition among them. “

The French Government also announced yesterday that they are taking action to support local booksellers in their fight against Amazon.  In the United States, the American Booksellers Association has led the way to get many states to pass legislation forcing Amazon to collect sales tax.

In New Zealand the biggest complaint booksellers have against Amazon is that they do not pay taxes on their sales into New Zealand, particularly GST.

“New Zealand booksellers don’t mind competition but when they face unfair competition, it is galling, especially when it something our own government could fix.”

“We have beefed about the Government’s failure to collect GST from Amazon and other online retailers for some time. Now it is clear that the Amazon business model is of international concern affecting the local commercial fabric and culture of countries around the world.”

EIBF members share latest developments in bookselling all over the world

Members

On 24 January 2023, representatives of EIBF’s member organisations reunited once again during this year’s first EIBF international call. The quarterly call allows members to share insights, struggles and progress from their respective countries.
 

EIBF members took turns sharing the latest developments in bookselling in their respective countries, looking back at last year’s sales.

Speaking about the latest sales figures in France, Anne Martelle (Syndicat de la librairie française, President) stated that in 2022, overall sales dropped by –7.1%, but were still up +7% on 2019. She pointed out that paperbacks have especially become popular, with a marked +14% increase in paperback sales in December 2022 compared to December 2021. The book market in France has also been dealing with issues surrounding the increase of book prices and the minimum book delivery fee law, supported by EIBF.

In Ireland, “more money was spent on books in 2022 than ever before,” said Sheila O’Reilly (Bookselling Ireland & the Booksellers Association of the UK & Ireland), highlighting the 8-year continuous growth of the Irish book market. Despite these numbers, Irish booksellers have experienced difficulties, as well, due to ongoing supply chain issues from the UK and rising energy and staff costs. Furthermore, 47% of Irish booksellers reported that the 2022 Christmas footfall was down on 2021. Meryl Halls (Booksellers Association of the UK & Ireland, Managing Director) reported that independent bookshops in the UK experienced a successful Christmas, with more than half of them reporting a sales increase over 2021. The Booksellers Association of the UK & Ireland also grew in membership, counting 1 072 members – the highest number in 10 years.

Sharing news about the Dutch book market, Anne Schroen (Koninklijke Boekverkopersbond, Managing Director) said that in 2022, there was a +2.7% increase in turnover, with online sales decreasing after their markable growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Fabian Paagman, EIBF Co-President and owner of Paagman bookshops, mentioned the growing popularity of English-language books, which is proving to be somewhat difficult for Dutch publishers. English-language books are also gaining popularity in Finland, as reported by Laura Karlsson (Kirjakauppaliitto, Managing Director), who spoke about the Finnish book market, spotlighting the continuous growth of sales of audiobooks and e-books.

In Germany, 2022 sales in brick-and-mortar bookshops grew +4,8% on 2021, with customers paying more money per copy, but the overall number of copies sold being lower than in the previous years, as reported by Jessica Sänger (Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels). According to the latest data, consumer confidence index in the country is currently very low. Moving further to the east of Europe, we heard from booksellers in Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria. Ľudmila Jozefáková (Panta Rhei) spoke briefly about Panta Rhei, Slovakia’s largest bookshop chain, where the 2022 Christmas sales have not reached pre-pandemic levels from 2019. In Romania, bookseller and La Două Bufniţe’s co-owner Raluca Selejan shared insights about her bookshop, which received support from the Romanian government and managed to celebrate a successful end of 2022. Bulgarian booksellers also have a reason to celebrate, with 9% VAT rate for books becoming a permanent measure in the country, as reported by Desislava Alexieva (Bulgarian Book Association, President).

Our international tour didn’t stop in Europe: to conclude it, we were joined by Dan Slevin, CEO of Booksellers Aotearoa New Zealand, who spoke about latest developments at the New Zealand book market, spotlighting current challenges that Kiwi booksellers are facing, such as issues with storage or with finding experienced bookseller staff.

The international call presented a unique opportunity for EIBF members to meet, network and become inspired by progress in different countries - in Europe, but also on the other side of the world.

New research paper on book returns published through EIBF project RISE Bookselling

Through RISE Bookselling, a three-year EU co-funded project run by the European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF), EIBF produced a comprehensive research paper investigating book returns systems in seven countries around the world. This paper, published in April 2023, is the first volume in a series of research papers called Industry Insights. Read more about the Industry Insights research paper on returns below.

The possibility of returning unsold books for credit or refund is often considered an essential part of the bookselling business. This is because it allows booksellers to minimise financial losses while still allowing them to invest in a wide offer of books for their customers. With that said, returns can present bookshops with various kinds of challenges, e.g. additional workload and costs, as well as concerns regarding the environmental impact of returning books.

The Industry Insights paper on returns aims to answer to these concerns by examining different kinds of book returns processes, shedding light on the national differences in the approach to returning books, identifying challenges that arise from unsold or returned books, as well as the environmental impact of these returns. Finally, it explores best practices and innovative solutions to drive down return rates. 

This first volume of the Industry Insights series is an interview-based study which gathers the expertise of national booksellers associations, booksellers and other industry representatives from seven countries across the world: Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Slovakia, Spain and Sweden. The countries were chosen to give a broad geographical representation, as well as showcase different types of existing return models. Since the returns process is often similar, but rarely identical, across national borders, juxtaposing different systems and examining their inherent efficiencies and challenges can bring valuable lessons and insights to light.

EIBF presenting the RISE Industry Insights paper at the London Book Fair

On April 19, the EIBF Policy team, Daniel Martín Brennan and Tora Åsling, presented the RISE Bookselling Industry Insights research paper at the London Book Fair’s Sustainability Hub.

 

What are Industry Insights?

RISE Industry Insights is a series of research papers that looks into priority topics for the bookselling sector. They give insights into key issues, policy reforms and external initiatives that affect the bookselling sector. In addition, they provide network members with tools to engage with relevant political stakeholders, culture sector professionals and private sector representatives to ensure that their priorities are adequately upheld and supported.

The first Industry Insight volume on the topic of returns was produced by Daniel Martín Brennan and Tora Åsling, Policy Advisor and Policy Assistant respectively at the European and International Booksellers Federation (EIBF).

 

What is RISE Bookselling?

‘Resilience, Innovation and Sustainability for the Enhancement of Bookselling’, or RISE Bookselling in short, aims to upscale, reinforce and maximise the capacity and resilience of the European bookselling sector. The project helps bookshops innovate and stay up to date with new trends and technologies to ensure their long-term sustainability. This three-year programme is organised by EIBF and co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. 

 

Download the full Industry Insights paper on book returns below or via the the RISE Bookselling website here.

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