TTIP negotiations will not include fixed book prices: Börsenverein welcomes official confirmation from EU Commission
TTIP negotiations will not include fixed book prices: Börsenverein welcomes official confirmation from EU Commission
The EU Commission will by no means discuss fixed book prices as part
of negotiations relating to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership (TTIP), even if US negotiators bring up the matter
themselves. Following the suggestion of the Börsenverein des Deutschen
Buchhandels (German Publishers and Booksellers Association), EU Trade
Commissioner Cecilia Malmström has now clarified this position in a
written reply. According to Malmström, national book price-fixing
systems – such as Germany’s Buchpreisbindungsgesetz (Fixed Book Price
Law), which applies to both printed and electronic books – will in no
way be affected by the planned TTIP trade agreement. This means, for
example, that even US-American eBook platforms will be legally obliged
to adhere to retail prices determined by German publishers when selling
German-language eBooks to customers based in Germany. It also means that
any non-compliance with this obligation can be prohibited in an
effective manner.
