German Court Fixes Book Prices On Ebay

krez writes "Yesterday, a German court decided that it is illegal to sell books below the prices set by publishing houses. In the court's view, German books are exempt from EU free-market restrictions because they represent an "important cultural good". I guess this is what happens when the rights of collectives, and groups of peoples supersede the rights of the individual to do with his property as he/she sees fit. The implications of this could be far reaching, having an impact on your right to sell old CDs, DVDs, perhaps even art?"

Comments

Just one more restriction on top of so many

[real gumby]

Yesterday, a German court decided that it is illegal to sell books below the prices set by publishing houses...The implications of this could be far reaching, having an impact on your right to sell old CDs, DVDs, perhaps even art

Your right to sell art is already controlled in at least three ways:

1. Certain subjects are verboten
2. Resale of art is controlled; you are required to rebate part of your sale to the original artist(!) (droit d'auteur)
3. They're subject to VAT

And of course books are sold shrink-wrapped so you really have to judge the book by its cover!

But you know Germany is full of anticonsumer laws (lifetime guarantees forbidden, shops may not open on Sunday, sales (discounts) are only permitted twice a year, etc) so this is just one among many.