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(Boursier.com) – American Amazon has made a lot of noise in the world of publishing in December, arriving in France with its “Kindle Unlimited”, named for its electronic reading light, which offers an unlimited subscription to 9.99 euros per month, with access to over 700,000 titles, including 20,000 in French. But “Amazon will have to comply with the law,” said Fleur Pellerin Thursday in the columns of ‘Figaro’. The Minister of Culture had commissioned in December the mediator of the book, Laurence Engel, to investigate the legality of this offer, and it has delivered its report.
The publisher sets the price
“The main principle is that the publisher must fix itself the price of its offer. From this point of view, unlimited flat-rate subscriptions that concern many publishers do not respect the law,” says Fleur Pellerin. “In contrast, other subscription packages can be compatible with our legal framework,” she continues, for example if a publisher is launching “its own offer since it is he who sets the price.” Points offers, or theme, where each editor “determines a price for access to a limited amount of books in its catalog,” she said could be part of a legal framework.
Balance
The major French publishing houses, like Gallimard, Hachette, or Actes Sud, had reacted strongly to the launch of this offer in the Amazon e-books. “The mediator now has a month to set up a conciliation with all stakeholders. It will include helping French startups like YouScribe YouBoox or, to put their business model in accordance with the law, to invent new models “says Fleur Pellerin in this interview. Following the discussions, the companies concerned and therefore Amazon, have three months to adapt their model.
‘Le Figaro’ recalls that the giant e-commerce now set up his own publishing house in France . “Amazon can try but you see what happened in the US, where they approached the successful authors who have refused this proposal. The edition is a real job …” said the Minister . “We, what matters to us is that the development of the digital book is done in favor of the diversity that characterizes the French publishing market, ensuring fair remuneration of authors.”
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