Only six fairly technical points of agreement were signed between authors’ representatives and the National Publishing Union (SNE) on Tuesday 20 December. The thorny issue of remuneration has still not been addressed.
White smoke after 19 months of negotiations: an agreement aimed at improving the conditions of authors was signed on Tuesday by professionals in the book sector. Signed by the Permanent Council of Writers (CPE), the League of Professional Authors (LAP) and the National Publishing Union (SNE), this agreement is the result of talks that began in May 2021 under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture. Surveys launched among authors in France regularly reveal the frustration of the majority of them, faced firstly with the low share of the selling price of books which is due to them, and secondly with the lack of transparency of publishers after publication.
Among the measures of the agreement, the publication, by the editors, of their accounts twice a year, against once currently. A measure which should make it possible toimprove the information of the authors but also the regularity and the periodicity of their payment“, indicates the press release of the ministry. Or even the creation of an obligation to inform, always at the expense of the publisher, when he proceeds to a sub-transfer of the work or part of it. Nothing, on the other hand on the delicate question of the remuneration of the authors.
Continuation of negotiations
Co-president of the Permanent Council of Writers, Séverine Weiss hailed a “new stagein the relationship between authors and publishers, while regretting that the issue of remuneration has not been addressed more widely. “Sharing information is good, but there must also be a sharing of value“, she said during the signing of the agreement rue de Valois. Same tone for Frédéric Maupomé, secretary general of the League of Professional Authors, who regretted “a missed date“. “Remuneration, in addition to being a vital question, is a legitimate question“, he completed.
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For his part, Vincent Montagne, head of the Syndicat national de l’édition, praised “an important agreement“, emphasizing the “efforts» granted by the publishers.
At the podium, the Minister of Culture Rima Abdul-Malak, indicated that the negotiations would continue, with, this time, the presence of the National Book Center in the talks.
2021 was a year of growth “extraordinaryfor publishing, which saw its turnover grow by 12.4% compared to a year 2020 disrupted by the health crisis. For the first time, the turnover of the sector exceeded three billion euros, according to figures from the professional organization of the sector.