The UK bookselling trade without resale price maintenance an overview of change 1995-2001

Publishing Research Quarterly

Volumn 17, Issue 4, 2002, Pages 16-31

  Dearnley, James ^a   Feather, John ^a  

^a LOUGHBOROUGH UNIVERSITY   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 56749144492     PISSN: 10538801     EISSN: 19364792     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s12109-002-0023-x     Document Type: Review

References (39)

1. Publishers Association. The Net Book Agreement, benefits, how it works, the terms [pamphlet]. London: Publishers' Association, 1994.
2. Publishers line up for NBA debate. The Bookseller [editorial], 22 September 1995.
3. Barker, R. and G. Davies. Books are different. London: Macmillian, 1966, pp. 885-886.
4. Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976, 1992, Halsbury's Statutes, vol. 47, pp. 321-386. (The 1976 Act updated and replaced the 1957 Act.)
5. Publishers' Association. Press Release: Interim amendments to standard conditions of sale of net books, 28 July 1992.
6. NBA passes into history, The Bookseller [editorial], 21 March 1997.
7. Publishers' Association. Statement of reasons why the Director General of Fair Trading should not seek leave of the Restrictive Trade Practices Court to apply for an order to discharge its previous decisions in the cases In re Net Book Agreements 1957 (1962, 1964 and 1968), London: Publishers' Association. 1989, Annex I.
8. Ibid., Annex I.
9. See in particular Allan and Curwen's detailed critique of the NBA: Allan, W. and P. Curwen. Competition and choice in the Publishing Industry. London: Institute of Economic Affairs, 1991, pp. 24-26.
10. Barker and Davies, ref. 3, p. 4.
11. Barker and Davies, ref. 3, p. 35.
12. Monopolies and Mergers Commission. Book Club Associates and Leisure Circle: a report on the merger situation. London: H.M.S.O., 1988.
13. Office of Fair Trading. Press release: The Net Book Agreement to be referred to Court. No 38/94, 15 August 1994 14.
14. Commission of the European Communities. Case 56/89 R. Publishers Association v EC Commission. All England Law Reports, 1989, 2 ALL ER, 1059-1067. Transnational (or 'cross-border') RPM agreements in the European Union have continued to pose problems for EU member states sharing a common language. Most notably, a RPM agreement between Germany and Austria was ordered to be 'changed" in February 2000. Change in this case meant abolishing the cross-border agreement. The respective trade organizations were allowed by the Commission to implement separate RPM agreements within their national borders. See: Sieg, A. Death-knell for Austro-Gerrnan pricing. The Bookseller, 19 November 1999, p. 10. Sieg, A. Price maintenance in Germany stays. The Bookseller, 18 February 2000, p. 10.
15. Publishers Association. Press Release: Book trade poeased by success in ECJ judgemention Net Book Agreement. London: Publishers" Association, 17 January 1995.
16. Alterations to the NBA following legal challenges were made (i.e. the banning of application of the NBA in Ireland). The latter is reported in: Publishers' Association. Interim amendments to Standard Conditions of sale of net books. London: Publishers' Association, 1992.
17. Graham, G. Resale price maintenance - a worldwide conundrum. The Bookseller, 2 July 1993.
18. NBA passes into history, The Bookseller [editorial], 21 March 1997
19. NBA passes into history, The Bookseller [editorial], 21 March 1997.
20. Fishwick F, Fitzsimons, S. and L. Muir. Effects of the abandonment of the Net Book Agreement: First Interim Report. Cranfield School of Management, 1997, p. 18.
21. Lewis, R. Reports of indie demise greatly exaggerated. The Bookseller, 9 March 2001, p. 7
22. BA Membership statsitics were provided by the Booksellers Association in August 2001. They are contactable via the web site at: http://www.booksellers. org.uk/
23. The membership department of the BA described a recent pattern of new independent booksellers opening with insufficient financial backing and closing within a year (August 2001).
24. Email from the BA to James Dearnley, August 2001.
25. Email from the BA to James Dearnley, August 2001 Email from the BA to James Dearnley, August 2001
26. Clee N. Prospecting at Brighton. The Bookseller, 26 May 2000, p. 32.
27. Losses up at online booksellers, The Bookseller [editorial], 5 May 2000, p. 6. 28. PubEasy.com. URL:http://www.pubeasy.com/
28. PubEasy.com. URL:http://www.pubeasy.com/
29. Barker and Davies, ref. 3, p. 35.
30. Fishwick et al, ref. 20, p. 18.
31. For further explanation of book price indices, and the problems of making accurate judgements, see: Fishwick, F. Book trade yearbook: A summary of statistics from 1990 to 1999. Publishers Association, 2001, pp. 27-34.
32. Ibid., p. 27.
33. Rickett, J. Book sales - are they booming? The Bookseller, 26 January 2001, pp.16-17.
34. Greenberg M [ed.]. Consumer Trends: Data for the First Quarter 2001. Office for National Statistics, p. 44. Available from: http://www.statistics. gov.uk/default.asp
35. Clark G. Inside Book Publishing (3 rd edition). London: Routledge, 2001, p. 23
36. Fishwick, ref. 30, p. 49.
37. Kean D., A. Stone. BA gets fashion-conscious. The Bookseller, 12 May 2000, p. 16.
38. Fishwick, F. Two sides of the same coin. The Bookseller: LBF Preview Supplement, 23 February 2001, p. 21.
39. Notably the sale of books in outlets that did not sell books prior to NBA suspension-notably supermarkets, petrol stations, garden centers, newsagents etc.