Livnat pushes for ‘author protection’ law

Minister of Culture and Sports Limor Livnat announced on Thursday that she would promote the legislation of a bill protecting the rights of authors in Israel.

The bill would ensure that authors and poets are paid reasonably despite the propensity of Israel’s publishers and the country’s duopoly of bookstore chains, Steimatzky and Tzomet Sfarim, to slash book prices and push aggressive deals to customers.

Israel Radio reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has already put his weight behind the bill, which will be brought to a vote during the Sunday session of the Ministerial Committee for Legislation.