Shelf Awareness
Yesterday, French lawmakers "took aim at Amazon to protect local bookshops" when France's lower chamber, with the support of the Socialist government, passed a law barring online booksellers from offering free delivery to customers, the New York Times reported. The legislation will now go to the Senate, which is expected to pass it by the end of the year. Like most countries in continental Europe, France has a fixed price law for books; in its case, it allows discounts only of up to 5%."The [book pricing] law is part of our cultural heritage," said conservative lawmaker Christian Kert, who sponsored the bill.
Amazon countered by stating: "All measures that aim to raise the price of books sold online will curb the ability of French people to buy cultural works and discriminates against those who buy online."
Terry Craven, a bookseller at Shakespeare and Company in Paris, told BBC News that the new law was "very much" in line with the country's other policies. "It doesn't seem to be discriminatory. Amazon has certain ways of looking at the free market which is simply not one that the French state takes.... It is good news in so far as it is supporting the independent bookshops, which we greatly appreciate."
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