Saihan

Saihan System

* Government mandated Price fixing law

* Saihanbai kakaku Iji Seido = Resale Price Maintenance System

* Support: increases number of publishers and booksellers (from … )

* Lead to:

* Longer shelf life เพราะผู้ซื้อสามารถจะไปซื้อที่ไหนก็ได้ ทำให้วางขายได้นานขึ้น

* Larger selection of book authors. ผู้แต่งสามารถเลือกวางขายได้หลายๆแห่ง

Publications were ruled an exception to the 1953 Anti-Monopoly Law, allowing the continuation of the pre-war custom of selling publications at fixed prices.

The Resale Price Maintenance System, under which a publication are sold across the country at a fixed price. For the publishers and bookstores across the country, resale price maintenance enables the distribution of a wide variety of titles in small volumes and makes possible royalty payments for books with a small circulation.

This does not mean that publications must be sold at a fixed price, but only means that the publications are allowed to be sold at a fixed price. In other words, it depends on publisher whether they sell a specific publication at a fixed price or not. The Resale Price Maintenance Agreements themselves are contracts between publishers and wholesaler, or between wholesaler and bookseller on a voluntary basis.

Resale Price Maintenance System

Books

Periodicals

Newspapers

Phonograms

Music Tapes

Music Compact Discs

The Anti-monopoly Law allows to conclude the resale price maintenance agreement on these 6 categories of commodities. Books, Periodicals, Newspapers, Phonograms, Music Tapes and Music Compact disks. The RPMA is the only exception of the law and the government does not want to extend the limitation to any other new media and new type of goods and services.

RPMS is not applied to :

CD-ROM, DVD

E-books

Secondhand Books and Periodicals

Foreign Books and periodicals, journals.

There are not allowed to be sold at a fixed price. And as the RPMA is an agreement between publishers and...