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FranceKey Indicators Values Sources, commentsBook market size (p+e, at consumer prices) €4,121 million 2012, excl. exports; Syndicat National de l’Edition(French Publishers’ Association, SNE)Titles published per year (new and successive editions) 86,295 SNE (figure for 2012)New titles per 1 million inhabitants 1,321 French National Statistics InstituteeBook titles (available from publishers) ca. 126,000 From publishersPublisher revenue share of ebooks ca. 2.7% of trade (GfK), 3% (SNE) Estimates GfK, SNEKey market parametersFixed book price; VAT of 7% for print, audiobooks, and ebooksSeveral major French publishers, notably Editis, Gallimard-Flammarion, La Martinière, Actes Sud - yet not Hachette -have launched a pilot to directly cater their ebooks to libraries.Another experiment concerned the bundling ofheavily discounted ebook editions with the purchase of aprinted book. The offer will be introduced to the market ata large scale in 2014 by the ebook distributor Eden, whoalso will add audiobooks for download. (Information providedby Gallimard for this report, one of the consortiummembers of Eden.)Throughout 2013 in France, the political debate continuedon how to sustain or even defend its domestic culture inthe context of globalization and the impact of global playerson its heritage and specifics. In a report for the government,a number of measures have been proposed, notablyto introduce specifically targeted taxation on smartphone and other digital devices, as well as to secure thecollection of local taxes from global conglomerates to fosterthe creation of original French content. (For a summaryof the “Rapport Lescure” see Le Monde, 13 May 2013; thecomplete report is available online from the French government).In response to debate on how to act against piratedebooks, the French publishers´ association has signed anagreement with their British homologues to adapt theirCopyright Infringement Portal in a French version (see alsoActuaLitté, 5 August 2013).In 2012, some 3.6 million tablet computers plus another300,000 dedicated ereaders were sold in France (comparedto 145,000 in 2011). This should trigger growth inebooks by some 80% at least (Livres Hebdo, 3 May 2012,and Livres Hebdo, January 11, 2013, print edition, page 17).Perhaps even more conclusive is research commissionedby the French publishers’ association SNE in March, and thenupdated in September of 2012. In spring, a mere 5% of theFrench population over 18 admitted to having read anebook. Another 5% considered doing so. A staggering 90%said flatly “Non,” as they could not see themselves exchangingpaper for a screen. Only half a year later, 14% ofthe adults had in fact read an ebook at least in part, plusanother 8% would give it a thought at least. As in mostcountries, the strongest segment of the reading populationhas started to embrace digital first.The political and cultural context forebooks in FranceThe ebook (or livre numérique) faces an environment inFrance that is characterized by various factors from politics,culture, and trade.France —through its National Library and its national digitallibrary, Gallica (which currently has 1.5 million digitaldocuments on display)— has gotten an early start on thedigitization of its book culture. France also has a strongtradition of national politics spearheading the digital disseminationof its legacy and of creating institutionalframeworks for such ambitions, including the Europeandigital library project Europeana.French publishers, while setting up the infrastructure foran emerging ebook market, started to confronted Googleregarding its library digitization efforts, citing infringementof works under French copyright.The industry trade association SNE, together with theFrench government, regularly stands up to defend Frenchculture and its national book industry against what areseen as challenges from global market forces and players.This controversy — which was fostered from the very beginningby Hachette Livres, among others — did not hinderwhat is by far the largest publishing group in France fromThe Global eBook Report 38