Kindle Unlimited illegal in France

20 February 2015 Books+Publishing

Kindle Unlimited and similar ebook subscription services contravene French fixed price law and will be required to alter their practices within months, French culture minister Fleur Pellerin has said in an interview with Le Figaro, reported in the Bookseller. Pellerin told Le Figaro that the government’s ‘book mediator’ Laurence Engel would negotiate a new economic model with Amazon and France companies such as YouScribe and YouBoox, and that the companies would have two months to switch to a new system. ‘The essential principle is that the publishers must set the price of [the books] they offer,’ said Pellerin. ‘None of the unlimited subscriptions involving several publishers respect the law.’ Kindle Unlimited launched in France in December. A spokesperson for Amazon France said in a statement that the company ‘regrets this interpretation of the law, [as it] could prevent French readers from discovering new French authors, and French authors and publishers from taking full advantage of this unique opportunity’.

Category: International news