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At a time when many schools, libraries and bookshops around the world remain closed and people are spending more time at home, books can do wonders in combating isolation, while stimulating readers' minds and creativity. Every year since 1995, on 23 April, World Book and Copyright Day is celebrated all over the world. Launched by UNESCO, the event is an opportunity to celebrate the importance of reading and promote a lifelong interest in books.

The fact that print and digital publications have been subject to separate value added tax (VAT) rates essentially means that products that are considered to be comparable and substitutable have been treated differently to one another. This situation resulted from rules which, on the one hand, allowed Member States to apply reduced rates to printed publications, but on the other excluded this possibility for digital publications. In addition, the evolution in the VAT framework means that VAT on digital ...

Ziel des Vertrags von Marrakesch ist die Vereinfachung des Zugangs zu veröffentlichen Werken für blinde, sehbehinderte und anderweitig lesebehinderte Personen. Im Mai 2016 legte die Europäische Kommission einen Vorschlag für eine Verordnung und eine Richtlinie zur Umsetzung des Vertrags in der Europäischen Union vor. Im März 2017 legte der Rechtsausschuss eine Reihe von Änderungsvorschlägen vor. Im Mai 2017 wurde im Rahmen interinstitutioneller Trilogverhandlungen ein Konsens vereinbart. Über den ...

Am 1. Dezember 2016 verabschiedete die Kommission einen Vorschlag zur Mehrwertsteuer auf Bücher, Zeitungen und Zeitschriften, mit dem die geltende Mehrwertsteuerrichtlinie geändert und die Möglichkeit, einen ermäßigten Steuersatz anzuwenden, auf alle Veröffentlichungen ausgeweitet werden soll, unabhängig davon, ob es sich dabei um gedruckte oder digitale Veröffentlichungen handelt. Im Mai soll im Plenum über den Bericht zu diesem Anhörungsverfahren abgestimmt werden.

With an estimated value of US$151 billion, book publishing gradually evolved into a truly global business early in the 21st century. As yet, however, e-books are nevertheless significant only in a relatively small number of markets. These are led by the United States (13% of the book market) and the United Kingdom (11.5%), with Germany (5%) developing more recently. The e-book market in the EU has taken off only in recent years, and in 2014 it still represented only 1.6% of the total book market ...

The Internet has opened up new possibilities, at technical (hardware/software) and economic level, for blind or sight-impaired people to gain easier access to printed information. However the vast majority of books are never converted, mainly because of copyright law, into a format which makes them accessible to blind people (such as audio, larger print or Braille). Both the United Nations and European Union have taken initiatives to overcome this discrimination.

This briefing note provides a contribution to the "Workshop on Copyright - Tackling orphan works and improving access to works for visually impaired persons", which took place at the Legal Affairs Committee's meeting on 10 November 2009. Works available in a format that blind and visually impaired persons can read represent five per cent of the total amount of books published. In the short term, improving this situation requires both an extensive cooperation with content producers, and an inclusive ...