Re: Letters from the Earth

["Amalyah Keshet" <akeshet@xxxxxxxxxx>]

You yourself have stated the solution:  the students should buy the book.
The licensing fee is definitely too high, but the legal alternative is 
extremely cheap.
When a copy can be purchased for less than the price of a Happy Meal, there 
is really no excuse.

If you really, really don't want to make the students pay for the book, then 
have the University bookstore arrange a bulk purchase for you, and purchase 
the books for the students, spending far less than you would on licensing 
fees. (You apparently have some money budgeted for this, or you wouldn't 
have applied to HarperCollins.)


Amalyah Keshet
Head of Image Resources & Copyright Management
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
fax  02-670-8064
tel   02-670-8874


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Liz Johnson" <liz.johnson@xxxxxxx>
To: "Digital Copyrights" Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2005 5:32 PM
Subject: Letters from the Earth


> All,
>
> A philosophy course we are developing would like to use 4 letters from 
> Mark Twain's Letters from the Earth.  We would like to put the letters in 
> the course which will be password protected in WebCT Vista.  This was 
> published in 1938 by The Mark Twain Company and has been consistantly 
> renewed so it is not in public domain.  HarperCollins, which now owns the 
> rights wants $600 for each year.  We consider this too high.  Students can 
> purchase a copy for less than $3 but instructors are reluctant to ask 
> students to buy any additional books since textbook costs are so high.  It 
> would be a shame to write this remarkable work out of the course, but that 
> is what we are considering.  Since it is for sale, claiming fair use would 
> impact the market.  Are there any other alternatives?  What do you 
> recommend?
>
> --
> Liz Johnson
>
> *** PLEASE NOTE THAT MY CONTACT INFORMATION HAS RECENTLY CHANGED. ***
>
> Project Manager Advanced Learning Technologies
> Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia
> 2500 Daniells Bridge Road Building 300
> Athens, GA 30606
> voice: 706-548-8869
> fax: 706-583-2284
> Liz.Johnson@xxxxxxx
> www.alt.usg.edu