Already in 2013, then Culture Minister Hadia Tajik (Ap) presented the proposal for a new book act. The purpose of the law was to remove price competition between booksellers and to ensure stable income for publishers, including through fixed prices for books. The law was passed in the Storting, but due to the change of government that autumn, the law never entered into force. Culture Minister Anette Trettebergstuen is pleased to be able to put forward a proposal for a new book act. Photographed here on another occasion. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB Since then, the debate about the Book Act has been ongoing. Now, more than 10 years after it became a political issue, Culture Minister Anette Trettebergstuen has a new and modernized proposal for the Book Act. Since 2013, among other things, audiobooks have become a larger part of our everyday lives. One in four book readers listened to an audiobook in the past year, according to the Publishers Association’s reader survey. – The Book Act ensures equal treatment for the entire industry. And a greater variety of books, says the Minister of Culture to news. This is part of what the government is proposing in the consultation draft for the new Book Act: the introduction of a mandatory fixed price for all new book publications. Today it is the case that most new books must be sold at a fixed and equal price everywhere. On 1 May of the year following book publication, the books can be sold on offer. The government now wants a fixed price period of 12 to 18 months from the date of issue. In this way, books can be sold for a cheaper price throughout the year. remove the general discount scheme on books. Today, booksellers can give up to a 12.5 per cent discount on books during the fixed price period. Small players, such as independent booksellers and district booksellers, will be less able to afford to offer this discount and must therefore maintain a higher price level than online retailers and large players. The government proposes to remove the discount option in order to provide a more level playing field and help to maintain booksellers across the country. introduce an obligation to offer and deliver audiobooks that are digitally available. Today, audiobooks are often unavailable during the fixed price period. The government proposes that streaming services must offer the option of being able to buy the audiobook in the streaming services when the book is released – not wait until the fixed price period is over. The law is proposed to apply to fiction and non-fiction. In the hearing, feedback will also be requested on whether subject books and textbooks for higher education should be covered by the law. – Ultimately, this is about freedom of expression and democracy, says Trettebergstuen. – How will readers perceive this new Book Act? – For the readers, this will not mean much. They are going to get books on sale anyway. This is to treat the authors equally and to ensure that the authors can have the finances to write books. The entire consultation draft is still being worked on and is scheduled to be sent out tomorrow. The hearing deadline is 18 November. Inger Merete Hobbelstad is a cultural commentator at news. Photo: INA STRØM / KAGGE FORLAG Culture commentator at news, Inger Merete Hobbelstad, says this about the new book act proposal: – The public increasingly expects stories to be available on all platforms at once, so it is only as expected that the window until the audiobook release would be closed. But here, too, it is important that the fixed price scheme applies, so that the authors’ income does not fall because more people will choose to listen to what they write rather than read it. – Shocking Publisher Arve Juritzen at Juritzen forlag is very critical of the new proposal. Publisher Arve Juritzen is not satisfied with the consultation draft for the new Book Act. Photo: Tom Øverlie – This is a shocking and sad day for Norwegian book lovers. What the government is doing here is sending the bill to the readers. All the measures here will cause the prices of books to rise. I don’t think it will create the diversity they want either, says Juritzen. – But doesn’t this help to provide more predictability and fairer conditions? – It doesn’t help to be able to sell a book for NOK 500 if you only sell two copies. In order for there to be better diversity, arrangements must be made for it.
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Longer fixed price for books and earlier access to audio books – here is the government’s proposal for the Book Act – news Culture and entertainment
