The book sector in Italy has a turnover of 3.4 billion and involves 5,200 publishing houses, 5 thousand bookstores, over 70 thousand employed in the supply chain. And if talking about it until a few months ago was equivalent to retracing an ascending parable of the business – in some ways even unexpected and driven by the Covid emergency that has increased the time spent at home or in activities not based on sociability – today it is right describe “an emergency situation”, explained Ricardo Franco Levi, president of AIE (the association that brings together the world of book publishing) in an interview with Sole 24 Ore published on 1 September 2022.
Central sector for the growth of the country
It is in this context that the document that the AIE has released as a work proposal for the next legislature takes shape, in order to aim to secure what, as the document states, “is the first cultural industry in the country. and the fourth in Europe. And European publishing is a leader in the world. The book is culture: it is a pleasure to read, study, a tool for school, university, professions, work. This is why the book contributes to the economic and social growth of the country ».
The paper crisis
The first, immediate proposal is therefore to deal with the paper crisis, the costs of which have increased by up to 80% in the last six months: “We ask for books – we read – the tax credit already provided for newspapers and periodicals , essential for the survival of many companies. The whole system is now in danger due to the paper emergency. The energy crisis has caused prices to explode, which are already on the rise for the use of packaging paper and cardboard, and reduced the availability of paper on the market ».
The innovation
The future of the book, however – and here we come to the second priority – «depends on its ability to continue to renew itself. The sector has been waiting for years for a system law that looks to the long term, with incentives for innovation and internationalization for the entire supply chain ».
Fight against piracy
The third proposal is based on the enhancement of copyright and the fight against piracy, an increasingly growing phenomenon, which destroys as many as 771 million in turnover every year and 5,400 jobs. «The book industry is based on copyright, which must be defended and valued more and more in the digital society. Publishing suffers from the high level of piracy for which effective counter measures are necessary, if we want to give a future of work to the younger generations ».