Free translation of the press release issued yesterday by the German Minister of Culture about reduced VAT on e -books. Press release in German below.

Said German Minister of Culture, Monika Grütters: reduced VAT for eBooks protects the diversity of our book offer

According to the present EU legislation, electronic books, newspapers and journals are electronic services and carry the full VAT rate.

The Minister for Culture and Media, Monika Grütters, stated: “For cultural policy reasons, the reduced VAT rate applied to printed books has to be adopted as well for electronic books. Only with such a measure will we be able to protect the diversity of our book offer in a digital environment. Reduced VAT rates have a strong impact on the citizens’ capacity to access information and build up their own opinion.  We need to get rid of barriers not only to books and newspapers as cultural goods but also to literary content and media coverage. This is independent from the question whether the reader really holds the book or the
newspaper in his hand or downloads electronic content on his mobile reader.”

The Minister of Culture stressed further: “Reduced VAT rate for eBooks and ePapers should be put on the EU agenda as soon as possible. I am going to support the implementation of the coalition agreement within the Federal Government, which stated that it was going to work towards a reduced VAT rate for eBooks and ePapers on a European level. Of course, we are going to campaign in this context also for the maintenance of the fixed book price in order to protect cultural diversity and rich offer of books and bookstores in the future. In this respect, I fully agree with my French colleague, Aurélie Filipetti. The
extension of reduced VAT rate to digital content and newspapers in the EU is also an important cultural political objective also in France.

France and Luxembourg already applied reduced VAT rate for eBooks. However, the European Commission has opened an infringement procedure with the European Court of Justice in September.

According to a GfK (Society for Consumer Research) survey, the percentage of eBooks at the total sales of the publishing houses was about 9.5% in 2012. For the past year 2013 they expect about 10.6%.

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Kulturstaatsministerin Monika Grütters: Ermäßigte Mehrwertsteuer für E-Books sichert Vielfalt unseres Bücherangebots

Elektronische Bücher, Zeitungen und Zeitschriften werden nach geltendem EU-Recht als elektronische Dienstleistungen mit dem vollen Mehrwertsteuersatz belegt.

Die Staatsministerin für Kultur und Medien, Monika Grütters, erklärte dazu: „Der reduzierte Mehrwertsteuersatz, der für gedruckte Bücher gilt, muss aus kulturpolitischer Sicht künftig auch auf elektronische Bücher angewandt werden. Nur so können wir im Zeitalter digitaler Technologien die Vielfalt unseres Bücherangebots sichern. Die ermäßigte Besteuerung trägt wesentlich zur Information und zu selbständiger Meinungsbildung in der Bevölkerung bei. Sie senkt nicht nur die Zugangsschwelle zum Buch und zu Zeitungen als Kulturgut, sondern auch zur darin enthaltenen Literatur und Berichterstattung. Dies ist davon unabhängig, ob der Leser das Buch oder die Zeitung in körperlicher Form in die Hand nimmt oder sich elektronische Versionen auf sein mobiles Lesegerät herunterlädt.”

Die Kulturstaatsministerin betonte weiter: „Der ermäßigte Steuersatz für E-Books und E-Zeitungen sollte möglichst bald auf die EU-Agenda gesetzt werden. Ich werde mich innerhalb der Bundesregierung nachdrücklich für die Umsetzung des Koalitionsvertrags einsetzen. Im Koalitionsvertag haben wir insbesondere festgeschrieben, seitens der Bundesregierung auf europäischer Ebene darauf hinzuwirken, dass auf E-Books und E-Zeitungen künftig der ermäßigte Mehrwertsteuersatz verbindlich Anwendung finden soll. Selbstverständlich werden wir uns in diesem Zusammenhang auch für die Erhaltung der Buchpreisbindung einsetzen, um die kulturell wichtige Vielfalt der Bücher und Buchhandlungen weiter zu sichern. Mit meiner französischen Amtskollegin Aurélie Filippetti bin ich mir in dieser Frage einig. Auch für Frankreich ist die Erweiterung des ermäßigten Steuersatzes auf digitale Literatur und Zeitungen in der EU eine kulturpolitisch bedeutende Forderung.”

Frankreich und Luxemburg haben den reduzierten Mehrwertsteuersatz für E-Books bereits eingeführt. Allerdings hat die EU-Kommission beide Länder im September vor dem Europäischen Gerichtshof verklagt, da dies bislang gegen die europäischen Vorgaben verstößt. Der Anteil der E-Books am Gesamtumsatz der Verlage lag laut GfK-Studie 2012 bei 9,5 Prozent. Für das abgelaufene Jahr 2013 rechnet man mit 10,6 Prozent.

Presse- und Informationsamt der Bundesregierung Chef vom Dienst
E-Mail: cvd@bpa.bund.de – Internet: http://www.bundesregierung.de.

Dans la continuité des accords franco-allemands réunissant les acteurs de l’édition, l’Union des écrivains allemands (Verband Deutscher Schrifsteller et la Société des Gens de Lettres font une déclaration commune, rappelant que « les auteurs sont à l’origine de l’offre de création littéraire ». Et à ce titre, ils compteront comme les acteurs « de la diversité et de la qualité du marché » pour le livre numérique européen de demain.

Aurélie FIlippetti et Jean-Claude Bologne à la SGDL

La déclaration de ces deux instances représentatives des auteurs, dans leurs pays respectifs, tient en quatre points majeurs. Lesquels convergent avec la déclaration des libraires et éditeurs allemands et français, autour de « la nécessité de conditions équitables de concurrence et d’un cadre législatif qui garantisse la diversité culturelle en Europe ». Ces derniers avaient rappelé l’importance d’une « politique culturelle européenne du livre », début septembre.

Ainsi, sont pointés par la VDS et la SGDL :

1/ Le prix fixe du livre

Le prix fixe du livre, qui existe dans onze pays de l’Union européenne, favorise le développement de la création éditoriale et sa diffusion et assure aux auteurs les bases d’une rémunération juste et équitable.

2/ Un taux réduit de TVA sur le livre numérique

La possibilité pour les États membres d’appliquer un taux de TVA réduit sur le livre numérique permet de maintenir des prix attractifs tout en conservant une assiette de rémunération légitime pour les auteurs.

3/ Une fiscalité équitable

Seule une fiscalité équitable permettra de maintenir une égalité de diffusion pour l’ensemble des auteurs et des titres.

4/ La reconnaissance et la consolidation du droit d’auteur au cœur du droit européen de la propriété intellectuelle
Seul le droit d’auteur permet la rémunération légitime de la création et le développement d’une offre diversifiée et accessible à tous. Le droit moral, attaché à la personne, doit rester la prérogative de l’auteur. Lui seul décide si son œuvre doit être publiée, et dans quelles conditions, ce principe ne doit pas être affaibli pour les livres numériques.

Rejoignant donc les instances représentatives des éditeurs et des libraires franco-allemands, les deux organisations d’auteurs en appellent aux gouvernements de leurs pays pour élaborer « sur la base des points essentiels mentionnés et en concertation avec tous les acteurs européens du secteur, une stratégie de développement de la culture européenne du livre, qui soit ancrée dans le programme de travail de l’Union européenne ».

La déclaration est bien entendu signée par Imre Török, de la VDS et Jean-Claude Bologne, de la SGDL.

Download here the  study on the  interoperability of e-book formats, commissioned from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz by the European & International Booksellers Federation.

The full study in English as well as a summary of the study in German and French are available in attachment below.

Sutdy in attachment. 

The city of Incheon (Republic of Korea) was named World Book Capital for the year 2015 by an international committee of experts representing the book industry and UNESCO, that met on 16 July at the Organization’s Headquarters.

The Selection Committee retained the candidature of the city of Incheon on account of the quality of its programme and the impact it will have on improving the promotion of books and reading by all stakeholders involved in the publishing sector, as well as access to printed and digital publishing for the citizens of Incheon and the Korean Peninsula according to the selection committee.

While welcoming the great number and quality of the applications received by UNESCO for the title of World Book Capital 2015, the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, endorsed the Committee’s decision to designate Incheon World Book Capital for the year 2015.

Each year, UNESCO and the international organizations representing the three major sectors of the book industry-the International Publishers Association (IPA), International Booksellers Federation (IBF) and the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA)-select the World Book Capital for a one-year period, effective 23 April. This initiative complements the celebration of World Book and Copyright Day, and represents a collaborative undertaking by key stakeholders in the publishing industry and cities to promote books and literacy.

Incheon is the 15th city to be designated World Book Capital following Madrid (2001), Alexandria (2002), New Delhi (2003), Antwerp (2004), Montreal (2005), Turin (2006), Bogota (2007), Amsterdam (2008), Beirut (2009), Ljubljana (2010), Buenos Aires (2011), Yerevan (2012), Bangkok (2013) and Port Harcourt (2014).

See more at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/incheon_rep…

La situation économique et financière des librairies indépendantes
Analyse sur la période 2005-2012

Etude réalisée pour le Syndicat de la librairie française – SLF – et le Ministère de la culture et de la communication – DGMIC/SLL –

Bordeaux 2 & 3 June 2013

The study was conducted by Professor Christoph Bläsi and Professor Franz Rothlauf of  Johannes Gutenberg University, who said: “There is no technical or functional reason not to use and establish EPUB 3 as an/the interoperable (open) ebook format standard.

One short term obstacle is the non-availability of reader applications able to display all EPUB 3 features. However, this problem should be fixed soon by the IDPF Readium initiative which is developing an open source reference system and rendering engine for EPUB 3.”

Vice-President of the European Commission, Neelie Kroes,  in charge of the Digital Agenda,  praised the study: “My wish is that booksellers in Europe can take initiatives and benefit from the growth in the ebook markets. This is why I welcome this study by the European Booksellers Federation. Interoperability is a major requirement
to build a truly digital society. This applies to ebooks too. This study provides interesting insights on ways to reach true interoperability in the ebook market, through both interoperable ebook formats and interoperable DRM schemes. Now is the time for open standards regarding ebooks, just like has happened in other areas of the digital economy.”

John Mc Namee, President of the European Branch, EBF, said: “The lack of interoperability between formats
and platforms has been identified as one of the major obstacles hindering the Digital Agenda and is a real problem for booksellers in their daily contacts with their customers. On behalf of my colleagues from all Booksellers Associations in membership with EBF, I am very pleased that this study provides clear scientific evidence that interoperability is achievable. It also shows that there are alternatives to DRM’s and that content portability is feasible. Booksellers are keen to promote business models which make digital content easily accessible to the customers they are in touch with on a daily basis in their terrestrial or e-bookshops, the European readers.

Equally, booksellers are keen to sell e-books across borders and make as many customers as possible happy. They strongly support an open market, without territorial restrictions, in the full respect of copyright”.

The full study can be found in attachment. 

A study into interoperability of e-book formats was unveiled at the EIBF Annual Conference, Brussels, 16 May.

In the preface to the study, European Commission Vice-President, Neelie Kroes, wrote: “Now is the time for open standards regarding ebooks“.

The study was conducted by Professor Christoph Bläsi and Professor Franz Rothlauf of Johannes Gutenberg University, who said: “There is no technical or functional reason not to use and establish EPUB 3 as an/the interoperable (open) ebook format standard.

One short term obstacle is the non-availability of reader applications able to display all EPUB 3 features. However, this problem should be fixed soon by the IDPF Readium initiative which is developing an open source reference system and rendering engine for EPUB 3.”

They added: “Given the will to do so on the side of Amazon and Apple, the DRM barrier between the ecosystems could be partly overcome by simple changes to the respective store and reader applications, and partly only by more demanding agreements between different players on interoperable DRM solutions. The latter is only necessary if copyright holders continue insisting on having their intellectual property protected by highly restrictive measures.”

Vice-President of the European Commission, Neelie Kroes, in charge of the Digital Agenda, praised the study:“My wish is that booksellers in Europe can take initiatives and benefit from the growth in the ebook markets. This is why I welcome this study by the European Booksellers Federation. Interoperability is a major requirement to build a truly digital society. This applies to ebooks too. This study provides interesting insights on ways to reach true interoperability in the ebook market, through both interoperable ebook formats and interoperable DRM schemes. Now is the time for open standards regarding ebooks, just like has happened in other areas of the digital economy.”

John Mc Namee, President of the European Branch, EBF, said: “The lack of interoperability between formats and platforms has been identified as one of the major obstacles hindering the Digital Agenda and is a real problem for booksellers in their daily contacts with their customers. On behalf of my colleagues from all Booksellers Associations in membership with EBF, I am very pleased that this study provides clear scientific evidence that interoperability is achievable. It also shows that there are alternatives to DRM’s and that content portability is feasible. Booksellers are keen to promote business models which make digital content easily accessible to the customers they are in touch with on a daily basis in their terrestrial or e-bookshops, the European readers.

Equally, booksellers are keen to sell e-books across borders and make as many customers as possible happy. They strongly support an open market, without territorial restrictions, in the full respect of copyright”.

The European & International Booksellers Federation’s Annual Conference took place in Brussels today, on May 16th. It featured around 45 participants, representing all the major Booksellers Associations in the European Union and worldwide .

Booksellers have been fully supportive of the political objectives of the Digital Agenda, as promoted by the European Commission, since its launch.

Booksellers across Europe are fully engaged in developing and implementing the new business models that are opening up as a result of the digitization of books and reading. They are keen to meet the expectations of digital readers, as long as copyright, fair business models and independence of choice are respected.

They are aware that it is crucial to preserve a healthy book chain in Europe, as writers, publishers and booksellers are essential in promoting cultural diversity and high quality content. It is therefore of paramount importance to promote fair and sustainable business models and an even playing field for all book retailers in the book industry, and ultimately for the benefit of all European readers.

The International Publishers Association (IPA) recognizes EPUB 3 as a preferred standard format for representing HTML and other web content for distribution as single-file publications. IPA recommends that publishers and their national publishers’ associations familiarise themselves with EPUB 3 and explore whether and how they can make best use of its functionalities.

Meeting in New York earlier this month, the Board of IPA endorsed the EPUB standard, and in particular its current version EPUB 3, for the following reasons:

• IPA believes that a competitive and diverse digital environment requires the wide-spread adoption and use of free and open standards for digital content by publishers, technology providers, and distribution platforms.

• Open standards that are collaboratively developed and vendor-independent pro-vide an inclusive context which gives publishers great freedom in the way they develop their digital businesses.
• Standards must be developed through transparent, inclusive and business model-neutral standards bodies. The international publishing industry is adequately rep-resented, together with other stakeholders, in the governance of the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF), the global trade and standards organisation dedicated to the development and promotion of electronic publishing and content consumption.
• EPUB 3 is semantically enhanced, reliably navigable, and enables publishers to progress from producing static documents to creating interactive experiences.
• With EPUB 3, content can be encoded into a distributable publication file that is interoperable across devices and can adapt smoothly to different sized displays.
• EPUB 3 is a truly international e-book standard. It fulfills the requirements of publishers around the world, including by supporting global language requirements, such as vertical layout, alternative writing, and page progression directions, as well as other typographic capabilities needed to express the wide range of world languages.
• Furthermore, EPUB 3 can be made fully accessible to print disabled readers.

Mr Bammel, IPA’s Secretary General, said: “Digital publishing is now truly global. IPA strongly urges all publishing industry stakeholders to adopt EPUB 3 so that the publishing industry can achieve an interoperable and fully accessible global standard for e-books and other digital publications”.

About IPA:
The International Publishers Association (IPA) is an international industry federation representing all aspects of book and journal publishing. Established in 1896, IPA’s mission is to promote and protect publishing and to raise awareness for publishing as a force for economic, cultural and political development. Around the world IPA actively fights against censorship and promotes copyright, literacy and freedom to publish. IPA is an industry association with a human rights mandate.