In France, a new legislative proposal raises concerns for access to culture, information, and research. Last month, the French Government announced the introduction of a tax on second-hand book sales – a measure drafted by the national publisher association, the Syndicat National de l’Édition. Join us on the 4th of June at 13:00 CEST for an online salon, and take part in a crucial debate on the future of the French book market.
This debate takes place against the backdrop of the worsening economic situation of authors in France who are often poorly remunerated, inadequately represented, and lack bargaining power in negotiations with publishers (as highlighted in the Racine report published in 2020). This structural imbalance fuels the search for new compensation mechanisms, sometimes to the detriment of the fundamental principles of copyright, the Public Domain and cultural freedoms.
While it is commendable that the French government takes action to improve the livelihood of authors, this proposal is problematic for a number of reasons:
- Such a tax would restrict the availability of knowledge and culture for economically disadvantaged readers who rely on cheaper, used books the most. Students, researchers, libraries and second-hand bookshops would be among the most affected.
- It is unclear how much money would actually flow into the pockets of authors since the scope of application is still subject to debate and doubts about the enforceability remain. Moreover, half of the proceeds are to go to the publishers according to the most recent proposal.
- Most importantly, however, this tax would not improve the power imbalance between authors and publishers that is the root cause of poor remuneration.
The proposal also raises a number of legal questions:
- What would be the impact on Public Domain literary works freely accessible to all citizens?
- Finally, would this proposal be compliant with the EU copyright framework, especially exhaustion rights?
- How would this impact the free movement of goods in the European Single Market?
A panel of experts will explore the legal and socio-economic implications of this initiative in France and in the European context, consisting of:
- Grégory Miura (Conservateur des bibliothèques and Deputy Director of the Scientific Interest Group, CollEx-Persée)
- Bernd Justin Jütte (Professor, University College Dublin)
- Peter Mezei (Professor, University of Szeged)
- Moderator: Camille Françoise (COMMUNIA member)
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