The ministerial legislative committee approved the Authors Bill, after a stormy meeting yesterday. 13 ministers voted in favor of the bill, submitted by Minister of Culture and Sports Limor Livnat, and three ministers - Meshulam Nahari, Yakov Margi, and Michael Eitan - voted against. The bill proposes to protect new authors by banning discounts on new books for the first 18 months after publication.
The bill permits 10% discounts on these books during Hebrew Book Week, as well as on other occasions determined by the minister of industry, trade and labor. Israeli authors will be eligible for royalties of at least 8% on the catalogue price for the first 6,000 copies, and not less than 10% of sales of additional copies. For a first book, an author will receive at least 80% of these rates. In addition, an author's renumeration will not fall below 16% of the publisher's revenue from the book for seven years after its publication.
Last week, Livnat persuaded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz, and Minister of Industry, Trade and Labor Shalom Simhon to support the bill. She welcomed the ministerial legislative committee's vote in favor of it. "I believe that this law will ensure that the Israeli public will continue to benefit from quality and diverse Israeli Hebrew literature. This right will materialize only if authors and poets in Israel receive fair compensation for their works so that they can continue to create and promote Hebrew literature. The current situation is intolerable, and has resulted in contempt of books because they are sold for less than the cost of printing them. This is neither normal nor logical," she said.
Author Alon Hilu said, "I support this bill. I think that there is a failure in the books market, in which two players, Steimatzky and Tzomet Sfarim, have created a duopoly. Their war has crushed the small players, publishers and bookstores, and I think that this law will save the market from itself, from a position in which there are only two players."
Steimatzky Group CEO Iris Barel said, "Steimatzky congratulates the minister of culture and sport for her work in passing this law. Steimatzky has sought to promote a law that will guarantee fair compensation for the original author. The company is studying the law and will adapt to the new situation."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 11, 2012
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012