Sharjah: Ahmad Bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), has stressed that protecting authors’ copyrights and providing books at reasonable price are two main objectives that SBA is committed to at Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF).
He said that SBA is dedicated to ensuring that the publishing houses participating at the annual fair agree to price regulation in order to achieve sustainability in the publishing industry, while at the same time meeting the needs and maintaining the rights of all parties, including customers.
Al Ameri pointed out that SBA had closed the stands of two Arabic publishing houses during the 35th edition of SIBF at Expo Centre Sharjah, saying that the decision was taken as a penalty for price violations. He explained that the terms and conditions for publishing houses taking part at the fair are that they must offer at least a 25 per cent discount on their products and stated that the two publishing houses in question did not follow these stipulations even after receiving a warning letter for their conduct in this regard.
Al Ameri reiterated that it was necessary to take such strict action against publishing houses that shirked the rules to maintain the integrity of the Sharjah book fair.
