ABSTRACT
We looked in Chapters 11 and 12 at the contracts which normally govern the sale of finished books and other manufactured products in the UK, and at the general law affecting consumer protection and advertising. We have seen that the law still attaches great importance to individual contracts, but increasingly regulates trading behaviour in the UK by means of statutory liability, especially where consumers are concerned. We have also seen how many of the statutes and other regulations now originate, not from Westminster, but from Brussels. In this final chapter, we shall turn a lot more of our attention to Europe. Distribution and the free movement of goods and services are key concerns of the European Union. So, also, are the goals of free, unrestricted, competition, and the famous ‘level playing field’. Any publisher selling or distributing in the UK and Europe needs to bear these economic priorities very much in mind: agreements or trading behaviour which are found to be contrary to EU or UK competition rules, for example because they amount to the abuse of a dominant position or are otherwise anti-competitive, may be heavily penalised. This may affect distribution agreements, purchasing agreements, sales agency agreements, and potentially all commercial licensing of intellectual property, both within the UK and throughout Europe.
