Serials Pricing Issue Revisited (Gordon & Breach and Harwood Academic Journals))

You'll no doubt recall the thread on this issue, where these publishers offered a "network" subscription, and wanted subscribers to be bound by the fair dealing provisions of Swiss copyright law.

QUT Library has sent the following response to the publishers:

   "I refer to your circular of September 1994. The QUT makes no use of    the Journals other than as permitted under Australia's Copyright Act

1. Accordingly your new licence rates are not necessary for our purposes.

   In consideration of your acceptance of our 1995 subscription renewal    at the lowest rate for each title we give our undertaking only to    copy and redistribute the Journals according to the fair dealing and    related library provisions of the Australian Copyright Act 1968.

   We are appalled at this attempt to restrict our usage of the    publications beyond what is allowed under Australian Copyright Law.    Accordingly, we will be taking a particularly hard look at value for    money for your titiles in 1995.

   Yours sincerely etc "

I see this as the thin end of a rather nasty wedge, which might only be stopped by some solidarity amongst the library community.

Mike Lean
<m.lean[_at_]qut.edu.au.   Received on Wed Dec 21 1994 - 00:17:27 GMT