Lang Law
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Lang Law is the informal name given to French law number 81-766, from August 10, 1981, relative to book prices. The law establishes a fixed price for books sold in France, limiting price discounts on them. The law is named after Jack Lang, the French Minister of Culture at the time.
The Lang Law works as follows:
- The publisher decides on a price for its book and prints it on the back
- Booksellers are not allowed to sell a book for a discount of more than 5% below the publisher's price.
The Lang Law was passed under pressure from small booksellers, who feared competition from big stores.
Similar Fixed Book Price Laws exist in other countries, namely Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain. At some point there was a similar law in the United Kingdom.
