Re: monopoly

On Tue, 3 Aug 1999, Albert Henderson <noblestation[_at_]compuserve.com> wrote:
>
> On Mon, 02 Aug 1999, Harold Orlans <horlans[_at_]erols.com> wrote:
> >
> > There seem to be no anti-trust provisions in publishing: no price
> > regulation; no requirement that copyright owners (such as owners of
> > unpublished writing deposited in library archives) provide equal access
> > to all; no avenue of appeal against an owner's discriminatory treatment
> > of different users. Elsewhere in our economy monopoly is regulated to
> > protect the public; in publishing (except for the uncertain, limited,
> > and diminishing rights of fair use) it remains supreme.
>
> In the 1970s, a number of U.S. publishers signed a consent
> decree, I recall, to break up what had been the traditional
> international market division between British and U.S.
> publishers. The ability to order books across publishers'
> agreed distribution borders has always been available to
> buyers. Certain booksellers made it their business to sell
> the English edition to U.S. libraries.

I dispute the use of the word "always" in being able "to order books across publishers' agreed distribution borders." As late as the early 90's, I have had to use diverse methods to obtain copies of books which were not currently available in US editions, but were forbidden to us in the UK editions, because even though we couldn't get the US edition since it was unavailable, by their reckoning, it was.

I have also discovered (and passed on to other buyers) how to circumvent getting a book published by the Canadian division of a company which has a US division, and consequently can't sell us books, even though the US division does not carry the title.

Am I doing something illegal? I don't think anyone could prove it one way or the other, because it is such a quagmire. If I manage to procure legitimate copies of titles our students need, even if my method may be suspect, I feel I've done my job, and no monies were denied the publisher or author.

> I doubt that publishers collectively agree on territories,
> royalties, trade discounts, coop bonuses, salary schedules,
> etc. Publishers negotiate with authors, employees, vendors,
> and customers all the time. Authors even have agents.

Sadly, those of us working for independent bookstores have been paying the price for those negotiations. As has been noted several times in the media recently, a number of publishers have been giving online booksellers deep pocket discounts that they are not allowing the traditional "brick-and-mortar" stores. Mom and pop stores, institutional stores, and other non- or small-chain operations are being hit hard, and, if they can't develop workable strategies or additional non-book product lines, are dying. On the bright side, several publishers have already been called to task for their policies, and have, in some cases, been fined heavily for their action. Additionally, more than one publisher has begun to accept prepaid orders only, but when they find out we are NOT one of the chains, quickly allow us to order on a purchase order and be invoiced. It's been a interesting ride...

Barb

Barbara Ruhmann
Text Buyer
UCD Bookstore
University of California
2828 Cowell Blvd.
Davis, CA 95616
Phone 530-752-5538
Fax 530-752-4791
e-mail brruhmann[_at_]ucdavis.edu
http://www-bookstore.ucdavis.edu/ Received on Wed Aug 04 1999 - 15:43:34 GMT