Today In Ridiculous French Regulations: eBook Price Controls!

[DMB]

I think there is a simple explanation for this: France is a bueaucrats' paradise. They have to have lots of pointless regulations so that the army of fonctionnaires has something to do in enforcing them.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by DMB

I think there is a simple explanation for this: France is a bueaucrats' paradise. They have to have lots of pointless regulations so that the army of fonctionnaires has something to do in enforcing them.

Isn't that a slightly ironic thing to say, given that you're in Switzerland? If anyone's fond of rigid regulations, it's the Swiss .

[DMB]

In my experience, they can't hold a candle to the French!

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by HansTWN

I have wonderful news for you. The current copyright system allows you to buy as many copies of a book as you want to and to give them away one by one to increase human awareness.

You are just not allowed to make the authors and publishers pick up the check for your generosity.

There is no one by one in the digital realm, that's the wonderful thing about ebooks. Copyright is antiquated.

[astrodad]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

Buying from local stores will allow those local stores to continue trading and act as competition to the multinationals that put profit before everything else.

I'm so relieved! I can go to my local mom and pop and just pluck a book off their shelves since they don't care about making a profit. That's so nice of them to consider my needs above their own.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by jplumey

I'm so relieved! I can go to my local mom and pop and just pluck a book off their shelves since they don't care about making a profit. That's so nice of them to consider my needs above their own.

Too late, they already closed down. Looks like you'll have to make do with the latest Katy Price book from Tesmart instead.

[jorlin]

I live in the Netherlands, under Dutch and European law (fixed prices for books).

I love rummaging in antique bookstores to pick up some rare pBooks.
And I thank the fixed price system for the fact that not all of the regular bookstores are out of business, or my choice would be a lot smaller indeed.

Sorry for going offtopic for a bit:

I think the price of an eBook could be as follows (a bit simplified):

price(pBook) - [price of paper used for pBook/ individual copy]

Of course there is a certain balance between costs for hosting (including bandwidth) the eBook and the price of physical distribution of a pBook.
With both methods, the cost per book for the reproduction of the book will fall quickly.
The fixed price for the *author* should stay the same.
In the eBook world, it's much more feasible to publish in small numbers even by the author him/ herself.

I think the eBook model should really shine when it comes to educational textbooks. Those publications as pBook have a nasty habit of having a revision every year, making the last year's book worthless, because the teacher will reference the new, reviewed book.
In the pBook world this means that a lot of paper will be wasted making a book that some will only need a single year.

eBook textbooks on the other hand, could just be patched.
It's only logical that these patches should be far cheaper than the book as a whole.
This would save a lot of paper by adopters of e-readers.

Originally Posted by HansTWN

(...)
You are just not allowed to make the authors and publishers pick up the check for your generosity.

Actually, Giggleton is allowed to do that, but only if *he is the author of the book*.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by jorlin

I live in the Netherlands, under Dutch and European law (fixed prices for books).

I love rummaging in antique bookstores to pick up some rare pBooks.
And I thank the fixed price system for the fact that not all of the regular bookstores are out of business, or my choice would be a lot smaller indeed.


Actually, Giggleton is allowed to do that, but only if *he is the author of the book*.

**What If I am the author of all books, or what if you are**

Also, I still don't understand who these ebook sellers are, if not the author. Who is restricting who?

[DMB]

I have to disagree with jorlin. I too live in Europe (Switzerland) and buy very few books or DVDs here because they are so dear and I can usually get them at much better prices elsewhere. If I were restricted to buying locally, the result would be that I would buy far fewer books and when I did would play safe by buying things I am 100% sure I want. As it is, I buy cheaper books and am willing to try more authors I don't know or to give a second chance to someone who wrote a book I didn't like. If the book is relatively cheap, it doesn't feel like a failed investment if I discard it part-read.

[vxf]

It is far from clear that price controls would help any market... price controls generally create deadweight costs and lead to suboptimal levels of supply.

But I think that is irrelevant. You want to support your local bookstore? Donate your own money, but don't try to donate mine.

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by vxf

But I think that is irrelevant. You want to support your local bookstore? Donate your own money, but don't try to donate mine.

But that's the problem, the idea that you can own anything. If there was nothing to sell there would be no market.

[lindaf]

In quebec (Canada), a set price for books has been looked at many times by the legislators. It never went through, but the thinking is that mega stores (like Costco or Walmart) which only carry bestsellers should not be allowed to sell them at cost (like some stores are doing). The small libraries need to sell the blockbusters in order to be able to stock some less popular books, like poetry or philosophy. As I said, it never went through, but what will happen now with ebooks? Will the librairians ask for something similar?

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by vxf

It is far from clear that price controls would help any market... price controls generally create deadweight costs and lead to suboptimal levels of supply.

I'm not sure what you mean by "help any market." But I'm pretty sure that the point of these regulations is not to "help" the market. It is to restrict the market.

And it is very clear (and has been for many decades) that these regulations (and other, similar regulations, like shop closing laws) have had their intended effect. They are basically working perfectly - the number of small bookstores in France or Germany is unlike anything you will find in the US.

But I think that is irrelevant. You want to support your local bookstore? Donate your own money, but don't try to donate mine.

This, of course is sort of the key point. (Sort of because you are not actually being forced to donate anything).

[Ken Maltby]

Originally Posted by Andrew H.

I'm not sure what you mean by "help any market." But I'm pretty sure that the point of these regulations is not to "help" the market. It is to restrict the market.

And it is very clear (and has been for many decades) that these regulations (and other, similar regulations, like shop closing laws) have had their intended effect. They are basically working perfectly - the number of small bookstores in France or Germany is unlike anything you will find in the US.



This, of course is sort of the key point. (Sort of because you are not actually being forced to donate anything).

Hmm... I am sure that the lucky guy who inherited the small bookstore, is
perfectly happy that his life is so well planned out and insured by his society
and government. He need not even concern himself with the idea of ever
growing his business into a big bookstore, those aren't allowed. (Of course
if you have the right connections...) Yes, the semi-socialized Euro economy
is such an example for all the little shopkeepers of the world.

Luck;
Ken

[Giggleton]

Originally Posted by lindaf

In quebec (Canada), a set price for books has been looked at many times by the legislators. It never went through, but the thinking is that mega stores (like Costco or Walmart) which only carry bestsellers should not be allowed to sell them at cost (like some stores are doing). The small libraries need to sell the blockbusters in order to be able to stock some less popular books, like poetry or philosophy. As I said, it never went through, but what will happen now with ebooks? Will the librairians ask for something similar?

The cost of an ebook is equal to its price, which is in 99.9% of the cases set by the author. I'm not talking about true costs, maybe ebooks don't even have costs. Only price.

Things should get really interesting when more people have ereaders.