Fixed book prices

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The book price is a statutory or contractual price-fixing for books and similar products. It stipulates that publishers (or book importers) must set and publish an unchangeable price for each book, which is then binding for all final sellers (e.g. bookstores ), i.e. it must neither fall below nor exceed it.

This interference in the free market economy is justified above all by the fact that books have a special position as a cultural asset and that fixed book prices guarantee a diverse range of books and a nationwide supply from smaller bookshops.

Fixed book prices were introduced in Germany in 1888. The Loi Lang has been in effect in France since 1981 and was the model for legal regulation in European countries. In 2002, the Book Price Fixed Act was introduced in Germany . Corresponding regulations applied in eleven EU countries in 2013 . In the German-speaking area, Germany and Austria have a legally prescribed fixed book price, in Switzerland the book price is free, as in Great Britain and the USA . Many countries have a legal situation that opposes fixed book prices, i.e. forbids publishers to impose a retail price on their customers. For example, several publishers in the United States ran into problems with the judiciary for trying to set a minimum price for their e-books on Amazon .

Existing regulations

  • Countries with fixed book prices
  • Countries with industry agreements
  • Countries without fixed book prices
  • No information

    • Europe

    In Europe, the 2008 book price was regulated by law in Germany, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Spain; industry agreements were in place in Denmark, Norway and Hungary. There was no fixed book price in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. In 2013, too, rules on fixed book prices applied in eleven European countries.

    Germany

    In Germany, fixed book prices ( Section 5 of the Book Price Fixed Act ) apply in bookshops to all books published in Germany (including foreign language ones, provided they are mainly sold in Germany) as well as to sheet music and cartographic products . In addition, fixed book prices apply to "products that reproduce or substitute books, sheet music or cartographic products and, when considering the overall circumstances, are predominantly typical of the publishing house or book trade, as well as combined items in which one of the products mentioned is the main item " ( Section 2 BuchPrG) .

    As long as it is not used goods or titles whose price fixing has been officially lifted, this price must be adhered to ( § 3 BuchPrG). Imported titles from countries with no fixed book prices, on the other hand, are not subject to price maintenance in Germany either.

    The Book Price Fixing Act

    Due to the Book Price Fixing Act, publishers are legally obliged to set the price including sales tax (final price) for the issue of a book for sale to final customers.

    Fixed book prices apply after a certain preliminary phase in which books can be sold at a lower subscription price by binding pre-orders before the official publication date . By means of a public declaration - usually in the yellow pages of the Börsenblatt - a publisher can lift the fixed book price for individual titles after 18 months. The prices for books that appear recurring, for example annually in an updated edition, can also be canceled when the new edition is published.

    Exempted from the fixed price are marked defective copies with actual defects, used books (already sold at the fixed price) or old editions that have been on the market for more than 18 months and for which the publisher has lifted the price fixing. So-called returns are only not subject to price maintenance if the books are actually damaged or soiled, labeled defective copies . Book clubs that only sell books to members are only affected to a limited extent by fixed book prices. You act as a licensee and thus publish special editions (so-called book club editions ), which must show a clear difference in equipment and usually appear with a delay of about six months from the original title. This enables the book clubs to offer their titles (which, as a publisher, they themselves price) for less. Nevertheless, these book club editions are also price-linked.

    Anyone who deals with books on a business basis is obliged to adhere to the fixed retail prices. According to a ruling, anyone who sells books in a volume that is unusual for private individuals is already acting commercially. So-called fixed price trustees (PB trustees) monitor compliance with fixed book prices: around 1,000 publishers commissioned Wiesbaden lawyers Dieter Wallenfels and Christian Russ to ensure compliance with the fixed prices. In practice, warnings are sent when the PB trustees discover legal violations. The PB trustees are entitled to do this on the basis of the active legitimation incumbent on them under Section 9 (2) No. 3 BuchPrG; therefore they also sue in court proceedings themselves. If someone who sells new books on a commercial basis does not succeed in proving that they are no longer subject to fixed book prices, they are threatened with liability for omission, information, costs and compensation.

    With the introduction of the Book Price Fixing Act in Germany, the auditor's license at universities, which gave students the right to buy books from a professor at a discount, was abolished.

    history

    Fixed book prices were introduced in Germany in 1888, as the climax and conclusion of the “Kröner Reform” under the leadership of the head of the German Booksellers Association, Adolf Kröner . The regulations on fixed retail prices in the book trade were initially anchored in the articles of association as well as in the traffic regulations and the sales regulations of the Börsenverein. In the first decades of its existence, the German fixed book prices were therefore a purely association law regulation. Sanctions for violations of the Articles of Association were initiated and monitored by the Börsenverein. In principle, such could only be directed against club members. However, due to the large area of ​​influence of the Börsenverein within the German book trade, the entire industry was in fact affected. The associated possibility of cartel formation and the increase in the price of books was criticized in 1903 in the memorandum "The German Book Trade and Science" by the Leipzig economist and newspaper scientist Karl Bücher and led to the book dispute named after him .

    It was not until 1927 that a contractual component was added with the introduction of a reverse system. Book producers (publishers) and booksellers undertook to comply with the fixed price regulations through bilateral agreements.

    The combination of association and contractual regulations was retained until 1945. At the urging of the western allies, the central component had to be abandoned. The Börsenverein thus lost its supervisory right over fixed book prices in West Germany. After a few difficulties, the West German book trade was able to obtain basic authorization from the Allies to fix book prices. In 1958, vertical price maintenance was anchored in the Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB). According to § 15 GWB, agreements restricting price freedom were generally prohibited. In § 16 GWB, however, it said: "§ 15 does not apply if (...) a publishing company legally or economically binds the buyers of its publishing products to agree on certain prices for resale or to impose the same bond on their customers until they are resold to the last consumer . "

    It was thus possible to continue securing fixed book prices via reverse in the following period:

    • 1957–1959: first cross-publishing collective reverse
    • 1966: Collective lapel Franzen (1967/68 expansion by two further reverse)
    • 1975: Collector lapel 1974.

    In the Soviet occupation zone (SBZ) and the GDR, the association-law regulations on fixed book prices were initially retained after 1945. In the mid-1950s, however, this was completely eliminated here and replaced by state control of prices. As early as 1948, book prices were regulated via so-called price orders (PAO), which not only precisely regulated the compliance with retail prices, but also the price setting by the publishers.

    On July 1, 1990, with the Economic and Monetary Union, the 1974 collectible lapel was also introduced in the GDR.

    1978 was the Federal Court in the dispute Eduscho counterproductive S. Fischer Verlag Eduscho right. The judges declared the sale of relatively inexpensive, high-volume printed books at coffee chain stores to be unobjectionable under competition law if there is no link between the purchase of coffee and the "ancillary goods".
    A new challenge arose for fixed book prices as a result of European unification. As European law prohibits restrictions of competition for trade between member states, the old regulations had to be changed in the German-speaking area. As early as 1993 Austria, Switzerland and Germany joined a common, cross-border collective reverse. After Austria joined the European Union (January 1, 1995), this agreement was also attacked by the EU Competition Commission. In 1998 the formal procedure to review cross-border price maintenance between Germany and Austria was initiated. After long disputes, the principle of fixed book prices was recognized by the EU in 2000, but the legal basis had to be changed. As of July 1, 2000, the previously voluntary price fixing system (“ price fixing lapel ”) was regulated by law in Austria.

    In 2000, the Monopolies Commission came to the conclusion that removing the fixed book price would not endanger the book as a cultural asset. However, the demand was rejected by the then Federal Minister of Economics, Müller . In 2018, the Monopolies Commission presented a special report on fixed book prices in which it advocated the abolition of fixed price maintenance, as it believes that many of the assumed assumptions and effects of fixed price maintenance cannot be proven. The Bundestag then decided at the end of 2018 that the fixed book prices would remain and that the arguments of the Monopolies Commission would not be followed.

    As of October 1, 2002, a corresponding regulation was established in law in Germany (see web links ); the law was changed in July 2006. An obligation to label defective copies ( Section 7, Paragraph 1, No. 4), the possibility of a maximum of 30 days free of fixed price clearance sales ( Section 7, Paragraph 1, No. 5), provided that these were previously offered to the supplier for return within a reasonable period, a change for granting discounts in the school book business ( § 7 Paragraph 3 Clause 1) as well as a clarification that the fixed price according to § 8 BuchPrG can only be lifted for book editions that were first published more than 18 months ago.

    With the new law, the collective reverse that determined fixed book prices in Germany until 2002 did not expire - it is still used for the fixed price of magazines.

    Exceptions

    Exceptions to fixed book prices are regulated by § 7 of the Book Price Fixed Act. The following books are therefore exempt from fixed book prices in Germany:

    • Books that are published in countries not subject to fixed book prices (e.g. Great Britain) and imported into Germany.
    • For cross-border sales within the European Economic Area, unless the books have been exported solely for the purpose of re-importation
    • Defective copies marked as such
    • Books offered as part of a clearance sale.

    Furthermore, the fixed price for books that were published more than 18 months ago can be lifted. Earlier cancellation can also be considered if the book would lose significant value upon reaching a certain date. This is regularly the case when the publisher publishes a cheaper paperback edition. When selling books to libraries , a discount of up to 10 percent can be granted, depending on the type of library . A publisher can also grant discounts to booksellers and authors for their own use (so-called colleague discount ) as well as to teachers for the purpose of examining use in class.

    E-books

    The legal situation with so-called e-books remained unclear for a long time. The scope of the Fixed Book Prices Act also applies to "products that reproduce or substitute books, sheet music or cartographic products." The German Book Trade Association , which can warn violations of fixed book prices, was originally of the opinion that fixed book prices did not apply to this form of publication. In 2008, the association completely changed its view and justified this, among other things, with the fear of the erosion of fixed prices as a whole. The association has been enforcing this view since January 2009, so that fixed book prices also exist for e-books.

    The Berlin Story publishing house undertook the author Klaus Behling early 2012 the experiment, the title of the last one turns the lights publish an e-book and let the customers pay in cash or other assets, as there is no information for the determination of prices for e-books. The publisher was then warned by a price maintenance trustee working for several publishers and asked to set a price or to stop selling.

    On February 3, 2016, the Federal Cabinet passed a law change that obliges all publishers to also set a “binding retail price” for e-books. The new regulation came into force on September 1, 2016. The Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels welcomed the change in the law.

    Recent research on fixed book prices in Germany

    Prompted by a decision of the ECJ in 2016, in which the ECJ considers fixed prices for prescription drugs to be incompatible with EU law, fixed book prices in Germany have become the subject of recent research. After the Monopolies Commission had spoken out in its special report 80 in 2018 for the abolition of fixed book prices, the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels commissioned two reports. The economist Prof. Götz is studying the economic effects of fixed book prices at the Justus Liebig University in Giessen on behalf of the Börsenverein . The legal scholar Prof. Fuchs , also on behalf of the Börsenverein, is investigating the compatibility of the Book Price Fixing Act with European antitrust law at the University of Osnabrück .

    At the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, an independent, interdisciplinary research group headed by Prof. Pohlmann , Prof. Sieg and Dr. Kögler with fixed prices for books from a legal, economic and literary perspective.

    Austria

    In Austria, fixed book prices are regulated in the federal law on fixed book prices passed in 2000 . On October 23, 2014, the Austrian National Council decided to extend fixed book prices to e-books and online trading.

    Switzerland

    In Switzerland, book prices were not stipulated by a state law, but by a private law agreement between publishers and booksellers (so-called collective reverse). This agreement was contrary to the antitrust law. Fixed book prices fell in May 2007 after the Federal Supreme Court confirmed the assessment of the Competition Commission and the Swiss Federal Council rejected an exception for a cartel.

    So today there is no fixed book price. A law to introduce or reintroduce them failed due to a referendum in 2012 . In the referendum on March 11, 2012, those eligible to vote rejected the law with 56.1 percent no votes.

    In the past, fixed book prices were regulated differently in Switzerland depending on the language region:

    • In Italian-speaking Switzerland , the book price was always free.
    • In the French-speaking part of Switzerland , the book price was released in the early 1990s. Before that, there was an industry agreement on book price regulation. The Competition Commission (Weko) is conducting an investigation into excessive pricing by French publishers.
    • In German-speaking Switzerland, booksellers have been bound by the book price set by the publishers since 1976 on the initiative of the Swiss Booksellers and Publishers Association . From 1993 this was organized uniformly in Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland by means of a collective reverse. Shops that did not sign the lapel were not supplied by the publishers and the middlemen. On the basis of an investigation since 1998, the Como banned both fixed prices and non-delivery. This ban did not take effect until 2007 after lengthy trials.

    A federal law on fixed prices for books planned for 2008 was passed by parliament in 2011 after extensive deliberations. In a referendum directed against this, the voters rejected the reintroduction of fixed book prices. The inhabitants of the German-speaking and Italian-speaking cantons, who all rejected fixed book prices, overruled those of the French-speaking cantons, where the law was largely approved.

    Objectives and effects: theory

    From an economic point of view, fixed book prices mean that price competition within the book trade is prevented. Compared to the perfect market , this restriction of competition is inefficient and leads to higher prices, lower sales volumes and excessive profits for the producers ( monopoly profits ). In particular, low wage earners are negatively affected by higher book prices.

    Fixed book prices are defended with a cultural argument in several countries, especially Germany and other EU countries. The declared goals of fixed book prices are a large number of well-stocked bookstores that offer a larger number of titles that go beyond bestsellers and also include less popular but culturally valuable titles. According to this argumentation, the larger number of titles results because the monopoly profits made possible by fixed book prices make a larger number of titles profitable (books have high fixed costs and low marginal costs , which is why lower editions require higher unit prices than higher editions). Because books are not homogeneous goods , proponents of fixed book prices (such as bookstores and publishers) argue that they are cross-subsidized : monopoly profits would be transferred from bestsellers to marginal titles, thus increasing the distribution of less popular books in particular. In this way, fixed book prices have a positive cultural effect.

    However, there are a number of arguments and counter-arguments in relation to cross-subsidization through fixed book prices:

    • Cross-subsidization of first-time authors or other high-risk projects also takes place without fixed book prices, for example in the hope of landing a bestseller, which is usually not predictable.
    • There is no guarantee that monopoly profits on bestsellers will actually be used to cross-subsidize less popular titles.
    • The price elasticity of demand is lower for less popular titles than for more popular ones. Therefore, publishers can plan better because of fixed book prices.
    • Even if cross-subsidization works, it is not clear whether the resulting cultural benefits (increasing variety of titles) offset the costs of market distortion (increasing book prices).

    Indicators of the economic impact of fixed book prices are above all the concentration and market shares of individual publishers and bookstore chains, the density of booksellers, book prices, the turnover and sales figures of bookstores or individual books, and the number and variety of books available and offered.

    Aspects of fixed book prices that reduce efficiency

    Reasons that reduce efficiency are stated in the literature that fixed book prices promote dealer cartels , represent an obstacle in the choice of the optimal sales channel and support manufacturer cartels .

    Dealer cartels: The retailers are contractually bound (via a collective agreement, known as a lapel) through the wholesalers and the publishers. Fixed book prices prevent the emergence of discounters and hinder Internet retailers, as their main advantage is the low price. It is precisely this hindrance that is in the interests of stationary retailers and chains. As a cartel, you therefore support fixed book prices.

    Optimal sales channel: In the course of the product life cycle , it would make sense for the publisher to change the sales channel. At the beginning of the life cycle, a high price strategy makes sense to serve those buyers who like to buy the current works. Later, it makes sense to lower the price in order to appeal to the price-conscious customers in large numbers. This strategy does not always coincide with the interests of trade. He would like to use the known works in order to have a sales opportunity for less well-known ones. Special offers for current bestsellers would therefore be a suitable means of attracting customers. Finally, the customer expects a price reduction after a short time and, when making a purchase decision, adjusts to getting the book cheaper after a while. Fixed book prices prevent decoy offers from the trade and signal to the buyer that he has no chance of getting the book cheaper in a short period of time.

    A manufacturer's cartel is also supported by fixed book prices. A cartel is always under pressure that it is cheap for individual cartel members to secretly undercut the cartel prices slightly. As a result, he gains market share and still benefits from the inflated prices. A fixed book price with fixed margins protects the cartel members against the departure of individual members.

    Aspects of fixed book prices that increase efficiency

    Reasons to increase efficiency are mentioned in the literature that fixed book prices lead to a higher number of sales outlets and raise the level of service. A high number of sales outlets often has a sales-promoting effect (a special form of Say's theorem ). Fixed book prices reduce price competition, which means that even small retailers with unfavorable cost structures have a chance on the market. The resulting increase in the number of booksellers in turn leads in theory to a higher number of sales outlets and thus higher sales for the publishers. However, even in countries with fixed book prices, there has been a noticeable market concentration in favor of large retail chains.

    With the end of price competition, the importance of the service as the only remaining way to stand out from the competition increases. Service can mean, for example, the quality of advice, variety of offers or the like. In the book trade, advice and the possibility of ordering all available books through wholesalers are mentioned here in particular . These services could only be offered because ruinous competition over price by fixed book prices was eliminated. In particular, the elimination of the free rider problem (the customer can be advised in bookstores and ordered on the Internet) is mentioned here.

    Studies on the effects of fixed book prices

    In the discussion about fixed book prices, the first question that arises is whether books are primarily viewed as freely tradable goods that have to face market selection, or whether the book is a cultural asset that deserves special protection. If you affirm the need for protection, the next question is whether fixed book prices are a necessary and appropriate tool to enforce this protection.

    On the occasion of the discussion about the reintroduction in Switzerland , the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW) commissioned a study on the effects of the abolition of fixed book prices in German-speaking Switzerland. This study examined the development in German-speaking Switzerland during the first 10 months after the abolition of price maintenance and made comparisons between regions or countries with and without price maintenance.

    The study came to the conclusion that no statistically significant changes in book prices could be documented 10 months after the fixed book prices were lifted. "Clearer signals can be expected in about 3 years", says the FHNW study. From the consumer's point of view, however, it can be observed that since the abolition of fixed book prices, a real price war has been sparked, especially on the Internet. An example of this is the discount of 20% on the regular German sales price granted in addition to the deduction of German sales tax , which Amazon.de has granted on all book orders for deliveries to Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein since spring 2010.

    While the first results are already available on price development, there are currently no usable results for Switzerland on other aspects such as the development of the number of bookshops or the number of books produced. For Great Britain , where the so-called net book agreement ceased to exist in 1997, it was found that the number of newly published books has risen steadily despite the abolition of fixed book prices.

    Another aspect of fixed book prices is that large publishers can produce more cheaply and large booksellers can buy more cheaply than their competitors. However, as a result of the fixed sales prices, customers cannot benefit from this purchasing advantage. On the other hand, it means protection and planning security for small publishers, since the prices once set often cannot be changed for several years. The internet retailer Amazon , for example, also benefits from this and has thus been able to help finance entry into other industries. According to a calculation, this "quasi-subsidization" should have been up to EUR 500 million by the end of 2013.

    See also

    literature

    • Martin Engelmann: The future of fixed book prices in the European single market. Represented using the system of German-Austrian fixed book prices. Dissertation.de, Berlin 2002, ISBN 3-89825-430-5 (Dissertation University of Würzburg 2001).
    • Hans-Döring von Gottberg: Impact analysis of the statutory fixed book prices in Germany . Driesen, Taunusstein 2009, ISBN 978-3-86866-105-7 (Dissertation University of Würzburg 2005, DNB 976747413 , ( full text online PDF, free of charge, 2734 kB)).
    • Hans G. Henning: Market structure and market behavior in the German book market - an industrial-economic analysis of fixed book prices . Nomos, Baden-Baden 1998, ISBN 3-7890-5199-3 (Dissertation University of Dortmund 1997, under the title: Determinants of market structure and market behavior ).
    • Dirk Kurbjuweit : McKinsey culture: The bankruptcy of the counter-elite . In: Our efficient life. The dictatorship of the economy and its consequences . Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-498-03510-X , p. 149-165 .
    • Jürgen Kühnert: The history of fixed book prices in Germany. From its beginnings until 1945 . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2009, ISBN 978-3-447-06098-1 (Dissertation University of Munich 2009).
    • Dieter Wallenfels, Christian Russ: Fixed Price Act. The fixed price of the book trade. 6th edition. Beck, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-61190-2 (standard comment).
    • Nicolaus Ascherfeld: Press wholesale and European law. An examination of the antitrust and fundamental rights aspects of German press wholesaling in European law with special consideration of the parallel problems with fixed book prices . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main a. a. 1999, ISBN 3-631-35687-0 (dissertation University of Augsburg 1999).

    Web links

    Wiktionary: Fixed book prices  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

    In Germany

    In Austria

    In Switzerland

    Against fixed book prices

    For fixed book prices

    Fixed book prices for e-books

    Individual evidence

    1. ↑ Jürgen Kühnert: The history of fixed book prices in Germany: from its beginnings to 1945, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2009, p. 91 [1]
    2. ↑ Apple has illegally negotiated prices for e-books . In: Welt Online . July 10, 2013 ( welt.de [accessed February 3, 2016]).
    3. ↑ a b Parliamentary initiative for regulating book prices - preliminary draft and explanatory report by the National Council's Committee on Economics and Taxes (PDF; 127 kB) of October 13, 2008 by the Swiss National Council's Commission on Economics and Taxes (WAK-N).
    4. ↑ OLG Frankfurt, judgment of June 15, 2004 , Az. 11 U 18/04 (Kart), full text = NJW 2004, 2098 ff.
    5. ↑ OLG Frankfurt, judgment of December 8, 2009 , Az. 11 U 72/07, full text.
    6. ↑ Fixed book prices: Monopolies Commission wants to delete without replacement. In: Spiegel online. July 7, 2000.
    7. ^ Special report 80: Fixed book prices in a changing market environment - Monopoly Commission. Retrieved February 27, 2020 .
    8. ^ NN: Börsenverein welcomes confirmation of fixed book prices . In: deutschlandfunk.de. December 14, 2018, accessed December 16, 2018 .
    9. ↑ Collective lapel .
    10. ↑ This formulation results from the ECJ, judgment of January 10, 1985 , Az. C-229/83, case Leclerc / Au blé vert. Nevertheless, German consumers can avoid fixed book prices by buying German books in other EU countries. Some online retailers have specialized in this and offer free shipping to Germany.
    11. ↑ OLG Hamm: judgment of June 5, 2012, Az. I-4 18/12 , guidelines; if only an dependent book sales point is closed, but not the company, the exception does not apply.
    12. ^ Opinion on the fixed price of e-books (PDF; 25 kB) by the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels , September 29, 2008.
    13. ↑ Börsenblatt interview with price maintenance trustee Christian Russ from September 29, 2008.
    14. ↑ Enno Lenze, (lawyer), Klaus Behling: Incredible: warning letter stops fair-pay ebook. In: Archivalia blog. Klaus Graf, February 16, 2012, accessed April 29, 2013 .
    15. ↑ The Fixed Price Act. In: www.boersenverein.de. Retrieved October 17, 2016 .
    16. ↑ Cabinet resolution : Fixed book prices should also apply to e-books In: Spiegel online. 3rd February 2016.
    17. ↑ ECJ, judgment of October 19, 2016 - C ‑ 148/15, ECLI: EU: C: 2016: 776 - German Parkinson's Association. Retrieved February 27, 2020 .
    18. ^ Monopolies Commission, special report 80. Fixed book prices in a changing market environment, 2018.
    19. ↑ WELT: Literature: Monopolies Commission is in favor of abolishing fixed book prices . In: THE WORLD . May 29, 2018 ( welt.de [accessed February 27, 2020]).
    20. ↑ Background of the special report / statement of the Börsenverein / Monopolkommission wants to abolish fixed book prices. Retrieved February 27, 2020 .
    21. ^ Website of the subproject "A02 - Literature and Market" of the Collaborative Research Center 1385 Law and Literature at the University of Münster. Retrieved February 27, 2020 .
    22. ↑ Implemented with Federal Law Gazette I No. 79/2014 .
    23. ↑ Competition Commission, 1999, p. 455.
    24. ↑ Allemann, 2005.
    25. ↑ BuPG: Preliminary draft (PDF; 29 kB) of October 13, 2008 with report (PDF; 127 kB).
    26. ↑ Information on the referendum on fixed book prices ( memento of the original from March 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.parlament.ch
    27. ↑ a b c Frederick van den Ploeg: Beyond the dogma of the fixed book price agreement. In: Journal of Cultural Economics. 28, 2004, pp. 1-20.
    28. ↑ a b c Bert Rürup , Roland Klopfleisch, Henning Stumpp: Economic Analysis of Fixed Book Prices , 1997, ISBN 3-7657-2047-X .
    29. ^ Kaufmann: Problems of fixed book prices under European antitrust law , 1998.
    30. ↑ Cf. Schneider: The book is a commodity. In: Swiss month. February 2012.
    31. ↑ B. Hulliger, D. Lussmann, P. Perrett, M. Binswanger: First effects of the abolition of fixed book prices. ( Memento of the original from June 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. University of Economics, University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland FHNW, July 11, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fhnw.ch
    32. ↑ Office of Fair Trading: An evaluation of the impact upon productivity of ending resale price maintenance on books (PDF; 452 kB), 78. Interestingly, the number of newly published books in Germany stagnated in the period under review (2000–2005), while it increased almost doubled in the UK.
    33. ↑ Guido Bruch: How Amazon is subsidized by fixed book prices. on : verkauf preis-optimierung.de , December 29, 2013.