Italy Drops Mandatory Discount on Digital Textbooks as Publishers and Booksellers Applaud Decision

The Chamber of Deputies' Budget Committee has removed a proposed mandatory 50% discount on digital textbooks from the fiscal maneuver, citing organizational reasons. Industry leaders, including publishers and booksellers, welcomed the move, arguing the measure would have increased costs for families and encouraged piracy rather than providing real savings.

The Italian Chamber of Deputies' Budget Committee has requested the removal of a provision mandating a 50% discount on digital textbooks for schools and universities from the current fiscal maneuver. The committee cited organizational reasons for striking the measure, which had been opposed by publishers and booksellers who argued it was both useless and damaging to the industry chain.

Critics of the proposal warned that the mandatory discount would not guarantee real advantages for families. Booksellers specifically highlighted a potential boomerang effect where consumers might be forced to print digital texts independently, ultimately spending more money than intended. Innocenzo Cipolletta, president of the Italian Publishers Association (AIE), expressed satisfaction with the decision, reiterating that the measure was unworkable and would have favored piracy.

Cipolletta further described the obligation to grant a license for printing digital texts as illegitimate under current national and European copyright laws. He emphasized that the most effective path to guaranteeing the right to study remains increasing resources available to less affluent families. The AIE hopes that ongoing discussions with Minister of Education Giuseppe Valditara will continue to fruition on this specific front.

The decision also received support from Ali-Confcommercio, whose president Paolo Ambrosini stated that the organization remains available to identify solutions for issues related to school publishing while addressing the needs of families and schools. Antonio Terzi, president of Sil Confesercenti, echoed these sentiments, noting that the proposed novelty would have offered no real economic benefit since the resulting product would not have been more convenient than books already on the market.

Terzi cautioned that this step back should not obscure the urgency of opening a dialogue with institutions to make existing support tools more effective and allow local bookstores to compete sustainably. Additionally, Federcartolai had previously opposed the norm, arguing that it merely shifted the timing of family payments and questioned the method of studying by treating digital tools as substitutes rather than integrated aids.

Sources: ANSA Politica.

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