Template-type: ReDif-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Backhaus Jurgen G
Author-Name: Hansen Reginald
Author-workplace-name: METEOR
Title: Resale Price Maintenance for Books in Germany and the European Union: A Legal and Economic Analysis
Abstract: Traditionally, in the German language area, the resale or end-sale price charged for new books in bookstores to the end customer has been a fixed or list price, observance of the list being enforced by the German Book Traders'''' Association (Börsenverein des deutschen Buchhandels). The association operates a complex system of rules governing book fairs, registration of copy rights, dispute resolution in the publishing industry, communication between authors, publishers, the book trade and the general public, training and continuous education of the more than 22,000 licensed booksellers and many others. Recently, the European Commission has rescinded a comfort letter and challenged the end price system operated in the German language area for more than a century. This move by the retiring commissioner for competition was, however, challenged in the commission''''s last meeting, and the issue has not yet been resolved. This paper, after an introduction, gives an in-depth review of the history and organisation of the German book trade. The end sale price maintenance rule is considered a part of a complex organisation governing this industry. Part two is devoted to the law and economics analysis, which is complicated by the problem lying at the heart of the battle over competencies, whether the end sale price maintenance is a matter primarily of competition or of cultural diversity. The paper concludes with a set of preliminary findings. 
Keywords: business administration and economics ; 
Series: Research Memoranda
Creation-Date: 2000
Number: 002
File-URL: http://digitalarchive.maastrichtuniversity.nl/fedora/objects/guid:cfa27c4e-ccda-4e53-bf07-fcf8131e81de/datastreams/ASSET1/content
File-Format: application/pdf
File-Size: 58235
Handle: RePEc:unm:umamet:2000002