Editing Net Book Agreement

{{Short description|Book price system in the UK and Ireland}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2012}}
The '''Net Book Agreement''' (NBA) was a [[fixed book price agreement]] in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] between [[The Publishers Association]] and [[bookseller]]s which set the prices at which [[book]]s were to be sold to the public. The agreement was concerned solely with price maintenance.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Publishers Association 1896-1946|last=Kingsford|first=R.J.L.|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1970|isbn=0-521-07756-7|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/publishersassoci0000king/page/209 209]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/publishersassoci0000king/page/209}}</ref> It operated in the UK from 1900 until the 1990s when it was abandoned by some large bookshop chains and was then ruled illegal. The net book agreement has not been in operation in Ireland since the early 90s.

== History ==
It came into effect on 1 January 1900 and involved retailers selling books at agreed prices. Any bookseller who sold a book at less than the agreed price would no longer be supplied by the publisher in question. In 1905, ''[[The Times]]'' tried but failed to challenge the agreement by setting up a low-cost book borrowing club.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://britishacademy.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.5871/bacad/9780197263266.001.0001/upso-9780197263266 | title=The Organisation of Knowledge in Victorian Britain | publisher=Oxford University Press | author=Daunton, Martin | editor1-first=Martin | editor1-last=Daunton | author-link =Martin Daunton| year=2005 | page=275 | isbn=978-0197263266 | doi=10.5871/bacad/9780197263266.001.0001}}</ref>

In 1905, following [[Education Act 1902|The Education Act]], The Publishers Association introduced the practice of deeming school books 'non-net' allowing schools discounts that were not available on other books. There were also agreements in place to allow public libraries to receive discounts of up to 5% on the net books they purchased.<ref>{{Cite book|title=UK Publishing global information partnership|publisher=Bookseller Publishing, The Publishers Association|year=2000|isbn=0-85021-283-9|location=London|pages=16}}</ref>

In 1962 the Net Book Agreement was examined by the [[Restrictive Practices Court]], which decided that the NBA was of benefit to the industry, since it enabled publishers to subsidise the printing of the works of important but less widely read authors using money from bestsellers.

In 1991 the large bookshop chain [[Dillons Booksellers|Dillons]], followed by [[Waterstones]], began to offer some books at a discount.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CEEDD1E3FF934A35753C1A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all | work=[[The New York Times]] | first=Suzanne | last=Cassidy | title=THE MEDIA BUSINESS; British Book Shops in Price Skirmishes | date=7 October 1991}}</ref>

As the agreement did not cover books that were damaged (or second hand), shops that wished to sell "new" books below cover price for any reason (for example to get rid of obsolete stock or titles that were not otherwise selling) adopted a simple strategy which meant that they were still sticking to the terms of the agreement: they deliberately defaced or damaged the book(s). The two methods most commonly used were to either use a [[hole punch]] to punch a hole in the cover of the book or to use a [[marker pen]] to mark the edge of the pages. The marker pen method was the most common as it took the least effort.

== Dissolution of the NBA ==
[[The Publishers Association]] applied the NBA in the Republic of Ireland until 1992, after the Competition Act 1991 came into force. In June 1994 Ireland's [[Competition Authority (Ireland)|Competition Authority]] refused to license the NBA, on the grounds that UK publishers' market share was high enough for the NPA to distort competition in Ireland.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/debateswebpack.nsf/takes/dail1996020600159|title=Written Answers - NET Book Agreement|date=6 February 1996|work=Dáil Éireann Debates|publisher=Oireachtas|pages=Vol.461 No.1 p. 159 cc193–195|access-date=27 February 2018|location=Dublin}}</ref>

In the UK in August 1994 the Director General of the [[Office of Fair Trading]] decided that the Restrictive Practices Court should review the agreement. In September 1995 several major publishers (including [[HarperCollins]] and [[Random House]]) withdrew, and in September 1996 the [[Booksellers Association]] decided to take no part in the case. In March 1997 the Restrictive Practices Court ruled that the Net Book Agreement was against the public interest and therefore illegal.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Daniel|first=McCarthy|date=2010-02-09|title=Politics and the NBA|url=http://www.amconmag.com/mccarthy/2010/02/09/politics-and-the-nba/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100420102531/http://amconmag.com/mccarthy/2010/02/09/politics-and-the-nba/|archive-date=2010-04-20|access-date=2021-02-26|website=[[The American Conservative]]}}</ref> The adoption of this new procurement discipline by academic libraries
since the demise of the NBA is the focus of "Managing suppliers for collection development: the UK higher education perspective."<ref>Ball, D., 2012. "Managing suppliers for collection development: the UK higher education perspective." In: Fieldhouse, M. and Marshall, A., eds. ''Collection Development in the Digital Age.'' London: Facet, 111-124.</ref>
The collapse of the Agreement strengthened large bookstore chains and reduced book prices. It also paved the way for the large [[supermarket]] chains to take a chunk of the book business, typically offering a small number of best-selling titles at deeply discounted prices. As of 2009, 500 [[independent bookstore|independent bookshops]] had closed since the demise of the agreement.<ref>[[BBC]] - [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7886420.stm The Money Programme], 12 February 2009
</ref> An early example of the changes in the book publishing markets following the termination of the agreement was the entry of the US-owned booksellers [[Borders (retailer)|Borders]] into the British high street, following their purchase of [[Books Etc]], but the failure of the changes was demonstrated by the rapid bankruptcy of Borders, as the supermarkets rapidly dominated the market with loss-leading price discounting, wiping out the competition.

However, market concentration and a demise of independent bookshops also took place in economies such as Germany and France where a fixed book price agreement is still in place.<ref>Kaufmann, [http://ec.europa.eu/competition/speeches/text/sp1998_013_de.html Problems of a Fixed Book Price Agreement under European Competition Law], 1998.</ref> The loss in business was smaller than predicted by many commentators. The number of titles published in the UK briefly increased when the NBA was dissolved in 1997;<ref>Davies/Wilson, [http://www.bis.gov.uk/files/file13299.pdf The Benefits from Competition: some illustrative UK cases] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110829145216/http://www.bis.gov.uk/files/file13299.pdf |date=29 August 2011 }}, 43 f.</ref> the volume of books sold in the UK increased temporarily by about 30% compared to 1995, but the retail prices collapsed.<ref>[[Office of Fair Trading]], [http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/economic_research/oft981.pdf An evaluation of the impact upon productivity of ending resale price maintenance on books] {{webarchive|url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140402142426/http://www.oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/economic_research/oft981.pdf |date=2 April 2014 }}, 42.</ref>

== See also ==
* ''[[United States v. Apple (2012)|United States v. Apple Inc.]]'', a book price-fixing conspiracy, which also involved collusion between publishers and was also ruled illegal

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100213235543/http://www.amconmag.com/mccarthy/2010/02/09/politics-and-the-nba/ Politics and the NBA]
*[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/collapse-of-net-book-agreement-within-months-collapse-1388530.html Collapse of Net Book Agreement `within months' collapse' - UK ...]
*[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-11333194.html The Economist: Blood on the Bookshelves]{{dead link|date=January 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

[[Category:Anti-competitive practices]]
[[Category:Publishing in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:United Kingdom competition law]]
[[Category:1900 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:1997 disestablishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Price controls]]
[[Category:Regulation in the United Kingdom]]

[[de:Buchpreisbindung]]
[[fr:Prix unique du livre]]