Publishing activities in Georgia are regulated by the Law on Entrepreneurs (02/08/2021 875-Vrs-Xmp). This law regulates the legal forms of an entrepreneur, the procedures for their establishment and registration, and issues related to their activities. The control over entrepreneurial, and hence, publishing activities, is exercised by the Law of Georgia on Control of Entrepreneurial Activity (29/12/2006)
There are small benefits in the Tax Code to promote Georgian literature. These apply in particular to the import of scientific and creative books and fiction, books and magazines written by citizens of Georgia, as well as the import of Georgian classics published abroad; and services relating to the sale of, import, distribution, delivery and printing of periodicals and fiction.
The mandatory library copies (legal deposits) in Georgia are regulated by the Law of Georgia on Legal Deposit(01.08.2014 N2645-rs). This law defines state policy in the field of legal deposits and along with other laws of Georgia, creates the legal grounds for establishing a national bibliographic data bank; it also ensures the production and development of a Georgian national bibliography and the protection, preservation and availability of tangible documentary heritage.
Article 5 of this Law defines the types of legal deposits:
- Printed documents (any publication that contains textual information – books, pamphlets, magazines, newspapers, music scores, geographical maps, atlases, etc.; periodical publications, almanacs, annuals; fact sheet publications – bills, booklets, programmes, etc; visual publications – posters, prints – plates, reproductions of works of art, calendars, labels, postcards, philatelic catalogues, etc.), that have undergone editorial and publishing review, and have authentic print design and are accompanied by notices of intended publication;
- Publications for partially or completely blind persons – publications produced by relief – dotted print or the Braille system, relief-graphic publications, audio books, large-print publications for persons with low vision, electronic publications for blind persons (adapted editions with the use of Braille displays and speech synthesizers);
- Audiovisual production – film, video, phonographic, photo productions and their combinations, produced and reproduced on any recording medium;
- Electronic documents – documents containing information stored in electronic – digital format which have undergone editorial and publishing review, and are accompanied by notices of intended publication and are circulated and distributed by means of an electronic medium;
- Unpublished documents – documents containing scientific research, research and development and technological studies (dissertations, abstracts, deposited scientific works);
- Combined documents – collections of multimedia documents produced on any recording medium (printed, audiovisual, electronic);
- Postage stamps.
The ISBN, ISMN and ISSN Department exists at the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia, which, in agreement with the ISBN and ISMN International Agency and the ISSN International Centre, issues international standard numbers to publishers and authors, renders control over assignment and maintenance of the numbers, actively participates in the organization and further development of the international network, and raises awareness of the standards of international agencies.
In case of ISBN assignment, printed products are exempt from VAT.
The Law on Library Management (11/06/1996) regulates the general issues of library organizations. It defines libraries as cultural-educational, scientific-informational institutions, whose main social function is to effectively and fully apply its funds and other library resources to benefit the users.
The universal library network includes public and non-public, local and departmental library networks. The library system covers the National Library, training libraries, public libraries, children’s libraries, school libraries and special library networks.
The main library of the public network is the National Library of the Parliament of Georgia, and special libraries also operate in the republics of Abkhazia and Ajaria.
The public library network is established according to the territorial and departmental principles.
The lack of tax exemptions in the law prevents the development of private libraries. Instead, there are efforts to own the premises where the libraries are placed and thereby to stop their operation.
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