Publishing Perspectives has an interesting article about comic book piracy in France, focusing on a report by the Paris government’s “Le MOTif” book and writing “observatory”. The third in a series of reports on piracy that began in 2009, Le MOTif zoomed in on comics, as this is the category of books that is pirated the most in France. Comic books make up 10-14% of France’s global book market, but the availability of comics in e-book format does not meet the readers’ needs — resulting in organized teams of pirates (up to 100) that have...

A new publishing house is going to take current French books, translate them and present them in English in digital form.  Here is the press release: France’s publishers are announcing 311 new French novels for the January/February 2012 Rentrée littéraire alone! That’s a lot of books, far too many of which will never reach readers outside of France. Le French Book, an independent, digital-first publisher specialized in good reads from France, was founded in December 2011 to bring more of these authors to English-language readers around the world. “If we love it, we’ll translate it” The company’s founder and CEO, translator...

After the matter came up in Parliament last week, the UK has once again declined to lower the value-added tax on e-books, which currently stands at 20%. The Bookseller reports David Gauke, the UK’s exchequer secretary, said the UK could not do this and remain in compliance with European Union law, which classes electronic media as services rather than goods and requires they be taxed at the higher rate. Other European countries, including France and Luxembourg, have reduced their own VATs on e-books significantly. France has told its publishers it will pay any fines the EU imposes on them for flouting...

FutureBook’s Philip Jones has a piece looking at the problems of value-added tax (VAT) on e-books in Europe. The fundamental problem is that, in the UK, e-books are charged the highest possible VAT rate, 20%, while print books have been exempt from VAT for decades. Other parts of Europe are in similar situations. This has the effect of inflating the price of e-books and slowing down their adoption compared to paper. When Parliament member Tom Blenkinsop asked the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer about reducing or eliminating VAT for e-books, the Chancellor said, essentially, that under EU agreements...

Received the following email from Aymeric Auberger about Europa-Apps.  From the website (which is in both English and French): Europa-Apps is a publishing house dedicated to all the new digital platforms, in particular iPad and Smartphones. We want to design and produce new works, and invent more interactive, richer – and perhaps more enriching – reading moments, enabling people of all ages to discover new territories, to read, to enjoy themselves, to learn and to play, and above all to think and to dream! In an email Aymeric tells me that their first app is My Kid...

That's the title of an article in Publishing Perspectives: Yes, Paris has done its utmost to maintain and sustain its 20th-century book culture. City Hall has ordered the Seine-side bouquinistes to stop selling trinkets, publishers continue to be wary of agents, and French e-book adoption is slow — even though retailers are eager to capitalize on consumer curiosity. French publishing is dominated by Paris and the old world ways therein. And despite — or perhaps in spite — of a growing and vocal youth movement advocating digital adoption, things are changing at the slowest . . . possible ....

From Intomobile: France Telecom has teamed-up with France’s Ministry for National Education to offer subsidized iPad 2 to university students. Under this scheme, Orange (which is owned by France Telecom) will provide the 16GB iPad 2 Wi-Fi+3G for 1 EUR per day (30 EUR per month) to any student willing to commit on a two-year contract. As part of the deal, students get 1GB of mobile data per month, along with unlimited data for emails (attachments included) and unlimited data on Orange’s Wi-Fi Hotspot network. A 12-month option is also available, but it raises the...

From an email: Following the announcement of our new product, the Cybook Odyssey, we received many questions regarding the HSIS technology. What is High Speed Ink System (HSIS)? HSIS is an architecture developed by Bookeen and results from 2 years of research & development. This architecture is made of hardware and software components in order to boost electronic ink. Cornerstones of HSIS which are incorporated within the Cybook Odyssey are: - Optimized software stack and algorithms, developed with quality and performance in mind from the ground up. The main goals are...

From the press release: Kobo, a global leader in eReading with 5 million readers in over 100 countries worldwide, has expanded its international footprint by partnering with #1 book retailer in France, FNAC.   FNAC has chosen Kobo to deliver a superior eReading experience to their customers, leveraging the Kobo eReading platform, one of the largest global catalogues in the world, top rated apps for any device, and Kobo’s leading selection of eReaders. Launching to market within the fourth quarter of 2011, in 81 stores in France and online with Fnac.com, this partnership will cement Kobo...

Today Amazon opened a French Kindle store, joining its already existing USA, UK, and German stores. The French store will serve customers in France, Belgium, Monaco, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. Along with the new store, Amazon is selling a French edition of its lowest-end non-touch Kindle (the one that sells for $109 ad-free in the US) for 99 Euros (US$133). The devices will ship on October 14th. I notice that the French Kindle store has a number of works by French author Maurice Leblanc available quite cheaply. It’s almost enough to make me want to learn French. ...

The Bookseller reports that three French publishers who had previously sued Google over unauthorized digitization of their books as part of its Google Books plan have failed to file the case by a September 6th deadline. The article speculates that they may be on the verge of reaching an agreement with Google similar to the one Hachette Livre entered into last year. A French publishers’ association and authors’ association also filed suit against Google at the same time as Hachette and fellow publisher La Martinère (which also settled) did, and have not said whether they also plan to drop...

From the press release: Paris, September the First, 2011 Digital publishers gather for: A different literary season This is a premiere in the publishing world, in France and in the world as well. At the beginning of the new literary season, a bunch of publishers and digital providers have decided to gather around an unprecedented event, through a website www.larentreelitteraire.org. A place fully dedicated to their books and news during this so special period of emulation. An event that can’t be missed At the initiative of Walrus, a digital book creative studio, digital publishers will meet around this very special place...