Re: copyright expiration as a spur to creativity

On 4 Aug 1998, Michael Scarpitti <mscarpit[_at_]asnt.org> wrote:
>
> Oh yeah? Do you have any idea how hard it can be to find out of print
> books promptly, while you're writing a book or an article? I know that
> some search services mark up the cost by 200-300%. In one instance, I
> paid $85 for a book that cost the search service about $20. (Don't ask
> me how I know, but I know.)
>
> The original author, of course, if living, gets nothing from used sales.
>
> We must find ways to improve the availability of books and provide
> payment to the authors.

If libraries had reasonable financial support, they would solve your problem. Funding for academic libraries has fallen short by every standard since 1970. Universities that encourage research grants have no interest in keeping up with the results. Then they have the cheek to accuse researchers of excessive publishing and publishers of overpricing.

Meanwhile they have spurred growth of document brokers who charge handsomely for their services. Mean prices for photocopies, according to the 1996 ASIDIC SURVEY OF DOCUMENT DELIVERY SERVICES was $11 +/- $47.40. About 3/4 of the documents surveyed included a mean payment for copyright of $5.50 +/- $4.90. These payments do not include the management cost. Association of Research Libraries reported a cost around $25, including both inter-library borrower and lender a few years ago.

Albert Henderson, Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY. 70244.1532[_at_]compuserve.com Received on Fri Aug 07 1998 - 23:23:09 GMT