Fixed Book Prices to be Enshrined in Law

German book prices are to be legally protected because of books' "cultural dimension", according to a draft bill presented by Culture Minister Julian Nida-Rümelin and the Economics Ministry.

The draft bill is aimed at banning cheaper re-imports of books into Germany, which undercut the prices agreed by the country's publishing groups. Under the new legislation, book retailers will also be banned from offering cheaper books abroad via Germany-based terminals.

The bill is to be presented to the Cabinet at the start of next year. People at the Chancellery Office said that there had been signals from Brussels that the draft bill was in line with EU directives. The EU Commission does not object to national price fixing, but is concerned about restricting cross-border trade. What's more, it is currently investigating German publishing groups which refuse to supply online book retailers outside Germany.

Nida-Rümelin's decision to seek a legal solution was born of an aim to give publishers legal security instead of the existing sector agreement. His proposals are modeled on an existing French law which has already been approved by the European Court of Justice.

The people at the Chancellery Office pointed out that price fixing for books already existed in many EU member states, such as Denmark, France, Greece, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Spain. Similar regulations are being prepared in Belgium, Italy and Luxembourg. But Ireland, Britain and Finland have abolished net book agreements.

The people at the Chancellery conceded that the system of price fixing in effect provided indirect subsidies to the book retail industry. But more importantly it guaranteed nationwide presence of book retailers and a broader range of titles because publishers were able to subsidize less commercially successful books with the revenue generated by best sellers.