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The Finance Ministry and Antitrust Commissioner David Gilo arewaging a rearguard battle against a proposed bill on book pricingthat is being discussed on Sunday by the Ministerial Committee forLegislation. The ministry has proposed that a government-financedfund be set up for the benefit of authors, but publishers haverejected the idea. The proposed law includes a provision that would require that booksnot be discounted for the first 18 months after they are published,other than during specific limited periods of the year. In light ofthe support that the law has attracted from some of the country'sleading authors - as a way of ensuring what they see as a fairreturn in the form of royalties for their work - the ministerialcommittee is expected to accede to public pressure and give itsapproval to the bill, meaning that the legislative process willproceed with the government's backing for the law. The book pricing bill was developed by the Culture and SportsMinistry, which expects the retail price set by publishers underits proposed law to be lower than current stated prices. But theFinance Ministry is pushing an alternative to the bill. It contendsthat its suggestion would not distort the free market in the retailbook industry and also not raise book prices. The two majorbookstore chains, Steimatzky and Tzomet Sfarim, have been deeplydiscounting many book selections. The size of the Finance Ministry's proposed fund in support ofauthors has not been stated, but similar funds already exist inother sectors of the Israeli cultural scene - including, forexample, a NIS 67 million fund in support of cinema and NIS 73million in direct annual state support for Israeli theaters. The Finance Ministry suggests that the fund be overseen by publicrepresentatives to avoid political influence in the choice offunding recipients, who would be getting direct government supportfor their work. The proposal was presented to the Culture Ministry andrepresentatives of the country's publishers, but the publishersrejected the approach, saying they were concerned about politicalinterference in the process. Yaron Sadan, who chairs the Book Publishers Association of Israel,said he had not seen the details of the Finance Ministry'sproposal, but a similar plan had been raised in the past. Theproposal does not address the economic concentration in the retailbook trade (where there are only two main competitors ) and wastherefore rejected by the publishers and authors, he explained. Finance Ministry sources have said they see the publishers'rejection of the Treasury's proposal as an excuse, because the booklaw that is to be considered by the Ministerial Committee forLegislation serves their financial interests, adding that thepublishers' purported concern over the poor financial straits ofsome of the country's authors is simply a cover for support of thebill. In addition to barring discounts on the regular retail price of newbooks for most of the first 18 months after they are published, thelaw would require the publishers to provide 8% in royalties to theauthors on the first 6,000 copies and 10% thereafter during thisperiod. The Finance Ministry said this law would distort the free market inbooks and lead to possible higher prices, whereas financialassistance can be provided directly to authors instead. AntitrustCommissioner David Gilo has also expressed concern that higher bookprices could result in falling book sales, particularly among thecountry's poor. "If we are the People of the Book," hesaid, "then we need to see to it that the books reach thepeople.". We are high quality suppliers, our products such as China Sublimated Soccer Jersey , China Sublimated Basketball Uniforms for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits Sublimated Sportswear.
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