His Dark Materials author has appealed for EU directive to be introduced in Britain, to block ‘unfair practices that currently prevent authors making a living’His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman has welcomed a “badly need[ed]” new proposal from the European Commission that would protect authors who achieve unexpected success from missing out on royalties.Pullman was speaking as president of the Society of Authors, which is pressing the UK government to adopt clauses from the new EU draft directive on the digital single market in order to “avoid unfair practices that currently prevent authors making a living from writing”. The Society highlighted the case of Horrid Henry author Francesca Simon, who has not received any royalties from the television and film adaptations of her Horrid Henry books, despite the series being broadcast in 44 countries with more than 1.5m DVDs sold. Related: Earnings soar for UK's bestselling authors as wealth gap widens in books industry Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2016-09-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation into the way Amazon distributes ebooks and its relationship with publishers. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The UK Booksellers Association has taken a lead role in pressing for a regulatory investigation into Amazon, The Bookseller can reveal. The association submitted a dossier to the Competition and Markets Authority last November about Amazon’s “domination” of the UK market, which it believes paved... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon.com’s ebook distribution deals are coming under close scrutiny from the European Commission, which has begun a formal antitrust investigation into the company’s contracts with publishers.The probe will focus on clauses in Amazon’s contracts that require publishers to tell the company... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2015-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The move continues a trend of cracking down on the operations of major tech companies in Europe.In recent months, European regulators increasingly have been scrutinizing the practices of U.S. tech giants that dominate their respective industries, focusing their investigatory efforts on Amazon,... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2015-06-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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"Vested interests" profiting only a few will attempt to hold up the reform of copyright, Andrus Ansip, vice president for the digital single market (DSM) at the European Commission, has said. Speaking at the European Digital Forum in Brussels yesterday (1st June), Ansip said that copyright... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-06-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The European Commission has a grand plan to create a single market for digital content across all the member states of the EU, so it can be bought and sold without barriers such as the administrative burden of different VAT rates. The creation of that market will help entrepreneurial start-up... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-16 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The European Commission is today (6th May) set to reveal plans for the “digital single market”, to remove barriers to online services across Europe. The plans would mean that customers across the European Union could all access the same digital services and products, including ebooks and... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Booksellers Association has said it hopes the European Commission’s competition inquiry into the e-commerce sector will look specifically at market dominance in ebooks. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The European Commission has announced an antitrust competition inquiry into the e-commerce sector in the European Union, as part of 16 initiatives on a digital single market to be delivered by the end of next year. The inquiry “will allow the Commission to identify possible competition concerns... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-05-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The French, German, Italian and Polish culture ministers today released a joint statement calling for the European Commission to propose immediately legislation to allow VAT on ebooks to be levied at the same reduced rate as print books. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The European Court of Justice has ordered France and Luxembourg to restore their standard VAT rates on ebooks in a ruling announced today (5th March). The court upheld a decision previously made by European Commission, which ruled that the two countries cannot charge the same VAT rate on ebooks... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-03-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The robust children’s market in 2014 has been the main theme of The Bookseller’s Review of the Year features, and it is driven home in our look at last year’s bestselling authors. The top 50 writers are once again eclipsed by the shadow of the Gruffalo, with the mighty Julia Donaldson taking... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Luxembourg provided “state aid” to Amazon through its tax arrangements for the company, the European Commission has said in a preliminary finding. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-01-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Association chief executive Richard Mollet has warned that the new European Commission's drive to impose a digital single market risks undermining Europe's cultural diversity and will play into the hands of US-based platform companies. Jean-Claude Juncker's new commission, which... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-11-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An agreement between the European Commission and Google over alleged abuses of its dominant... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-09-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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News Corp, Rupert Murdoch's media behemoth, is the latest source of criticism of Google. Robert Thomson, the chief executive of the company -- responsible for the Times and the Sun in the UK as well the book publisher HarperCollins -- has written to the European Commission to complain that the... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2014-09-18 00:00:00 UTC ]
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European periodical and online publishers have urged the European Commission to reject Google’s latest proposal to settle an antitrust case.The commitments proposed by Google would not stop the company’s “abusive promotion of its own services,” the publishers said in their response, sent to the... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2014-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hachette finance chief plays down effect of Amazon tactics as parent Lagardère reports 1% overall dip in salesThe Hachette publishing group has reported a fall in ebook sales as it continues its battle with Amazon over pricing.The publisher of Ian Rankin and Booker prize nominee Joshua Ferris... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-08-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Romance Writers of America conference offered endless opportunities for fans, aspirants, and bestselling authors to interact and self-promote. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The European Commission is to take "a few more weeks" to finalise its White Paper on... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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