Lang Law is the informal name given to
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
law number 81-766, from 10 August 1981, which establishes a
fixed price for books sold in France and limits price discounts on them. The law is named after
Jack Lang, the French Minister of Culture responsible for creating the law.
Background
Until 1979 fixed prices of the books on the French market were maintained as a result of voluntary agreement between publishers and booksellers.
In 1979 decrees forbidding such practices were issued by
René Monory
René Monory (6 June 1923 – 11 April 2009) was a French centre-right Gaullist politician.
Biography
René Monory was born in Loudun and began his career as the owner of a garage. He was the founder of the Poitiers Futuroscope.
Monory first ...
, french Minister of the Economy at the time.
Repealing of Monory's reforms of the book market, in order to protect small, traditional booksellers from competition of big stores and chain retailers (such as
Fnac
Fnac () is a large French retail chain selling culture, cultural and consumer electronics, electronic products, founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its head office is in ''Le Flavia'' in Ivry-sur-Seine near Paris. It is an abbreviati ...
), was part of François Mitterrand's
electoral program during presidential campaign in 1981. After Mitterrand won the
election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operat ...
he appointed Jack Lang as the new Minister of Culture and tasked him with creating a law proposal for a law establishing mandatory fixed book price.
In August 1981, the French parliament voted unanimously in favor of the law proposed by Lang.
Contents of the law
The Lang Law works as follows:
* The publisher decides on a price for its book and is obliged to print it on the back
* Retailers (
professional booksellers and other, nonspecialized sellers), are not allowed to sell a book for a discount more than 5% below the price set by the publisher.
The law was extended to cover
e-books in May 2011. Due to this law it is illegal to provide e-books of French publishers as a part of subscription service for a flat, periodical rate.
See also
*
Fixed book price Fixed book price (FBP) is a form of resale price maintenance applied to books. It allows publishers to determine the price of a book at which it is to be sold to the public. FBP can take the form of a law, mandatory to oblige by all retailers, or an ...
Bibliography
*
References
{{Reflist
French business law
Anti-competitive practices
Price controls
1981 in law