The executive branch wants to “revise” the law on fixed book prices

The government wants to “revise” the law on the fixed book price and explore the possibility of creating tax incentives for books in storage, according to a program presented this Wednesday to the Assembly of the Republic in Lisbon.

In the list of measures for various areas of culture, many of which were carried over from the program of the Democratic Alliance (the coalition uniting PSD, CDS-PP and PPM) for the legislative elections on March 10, the government included a revision of the “Fixo do Livro price law, promoting mechanisms supporting independent bookstores and publishers,” even though it was changed just over two years ago.

As already predicted in the election program, the government intends to “adapt and protect copyright to the new digital realities, especially in relation to artificial intelligence.”

Continuing to work in the book sector, boss Luisa Montenegro wants to “evaluate the introduction of tax incentives related to the taxation of the value of books in storage in order to minimize the destruction of books returned to publishers” and “to encourage publishers and booksellers.” reusing books and investing in digital transition (“e-book” or “audiobook”).”

In a number of undeveloped points, the government also indicates that it wants to “promote the translation and internationalization of national literary production by establishing special protocols with Brazil and the Portuguese-speaking countries” in a context in which it assumes that “the Portuguese language as a heritage of identity and global values.”

In this sense, the new government also wants to promote “contact between the school community and the nation’s writers, encouraging young people to acquire a greater taste for reading and writing.”

The law on the fixed price of a book was recently revised when a decree-law came into force in February 2022, which extended the period of novelty of a book from 18 to 24 months from the date of publication or import for the purpose of sale to the public.

This diploma provided that all the rules that applied to a book for one and a half years after its publication or import were now extended to two years, namely restrictions on discounts on the publishing price, the corresponding sanctions regime and special cases. as well as definitions of used, bibliophile, out-of-print, and discontinued books.

In October 2021, when António Costa’s government approved the diploma in the Council of Ministers, it justified the revision by the need to create “wider protection for booksellers” by guaranteeing them “fairer and more favorable working conditions in the general interest.” and following “the trend of other European countries”.

The so-called “Law on Fixed Book Prices” was originally approved in 1996 with the aim of correcting “anomalies found in the market” and creating “conditions for the revitalization of the book sector” in the context of “a cultural policy aimed at development in the field of books and reading.”

The diploma was later amended in 2000 and 2015.

In the electoral programs of this year’s March elections, the law appeared in the Liberal Initiative, but was subject to repeal, while Bloco de Esquerda and Livre wanted to be revised and reformulated accordingly.