Lang Law is the informal name given to
French law number 81-766, from 10 August 1981, which establishes a
fixed price
A fixed price is a price designated for a good or a service that is neither subject to bargaining nor bartering. The price may be fixed since the seller has placed it, or given that the price is managed by the authorities under price regulati ...
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, 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 French multinational retail chain specializing in the sale of entertainment Media (communication), media and consumer electronics.
Fnac was founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its headquarters is located in ''Le Flavia' ...
), 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 whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
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
An ebook (short for electronic book), also spelled as e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in electronic form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. A ...
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
Bibliography
*
References
{{Reflist
French business law
Anti-competitive practices
Price controls
1981 in law