The European Court of Justice [official website] ruled Tuesday that EU member states may not [decision, PDF] charge less than the standard value-added tax (VAT) on electronic publications. The court held that while physically printed books and materials may be taxed at the lower VAT rate, solely electronic publications must be subject to the standard VAT rate, with the exception of digital publications distributed on CD-ROMs. The case came before the court when the Polish Constitutional Court asked for guidance on the matter due to a suit questioning the difference in tax rates brought by the Polish Commissioner for Civic Rights.

Controversy surrounding electronic books versus traditionally published books and the means by which authors might be protected has been a matter of international concern for years. Last April the US Supreme Court declined to hear a case brought [JURIST report] by three authors and their advocacy group, Authors United. The authors contended that Google [JURIST report], in cooperation with various university libraries, took books off university library shelves and scanned them into a searchable database online. The authors claim that Google violated the Fair Use act by scanning the books, instead of buying or licensing them, and reproducing them without permission. Along the same lines, in 2014, the European Court of Justice ruled that EU member states [JURIST report] may authorize public libraries to digitize works contained in their collections without the consent of the rights holders.