Re: New E-reserves question

[Sandy Thatcher <sandy.thatcher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

If I were the publisher, I would make the following deal: assuming 
that the book does not yet exist in digitized form, I would ask the 
library to make a digital file of it in PDF form and  give that file 
to the publisher in exchange for free use of the work for the 
professor's class for one year. If the professor wanted to use the 
book in subsequent years, the book could be printed on demand through 
Lightning Source (or through an Expresso Book Machine) and sold for a 
modest price of, say, $15 per student. That, to me, is a win-win for 
both publisher and user. I think HarperCollins is being shortsighted 
and unimaginative. You might want to write back to HC and make this 
proposal. The library's cost of digitizing the book would probably 
not be much more than $100.

Sandy Thatcher



At 2:59 PM -0400 9/2/11, claudia holland wrote:
> I'm going to spin off on this topic a bit and ask readers about their
> experiences with receiving publisher permission to reuse an entire book,
> whether paying or communicating through the CCC, in this case, or
> contacting a publisher directly.
>
> A professor at my institution wanted to use an out-of-print,
> in-copyright title for her class of 30 students. The entire book (223
> pp.) is a required reading in her course; there are no comparable
> substitutions. Although there are a few used copies available via
> Amazon, alibris, etc., the professor wants to use this book in
> subsequent classes because of its unique content. Future purchase of the
> title may become problematic for students.
>
> We initially thought the most logical approach to making this book
> available to the class was to post it in e-reserves. We contacted the
> CCC, which manages the fees, etc. for HarperCollins International
> Division, UK, the rights holder.
>
> If we were allowed to digitize and post the entire book in e-reserves,
> the fee the CCC would charge is about $1676 (based on # of pages, cost
> /page & # of students in the course). Likewise, the fee for a print
> version of the entire book would cost each student about $75 at our
> institution (royalty fee + copy paper + bookstore mark-up (33%)).
> Because we needed the entire book, however, the CCC had to forward our
> request directly to the publisher. Permission to reuse was subsequently
> denied by HarperCollins. No reason given.
>
> I do not understand why the publisher would deny this use. Given the
> librarys copyright fund limitations, there is no way we can or will pay
> $1676 in royalties for access to one title for a single class. The
> professor does not want the students to pay $75 for a small paperback
> book that currently costs no more than about $25 on the high end of the
> used scale.
>
> Some may argue fair use, given the lack of a license to use the book and
> the limited availability of copies. I am frustrated that now there may
> be no recourse for this professor who merely wants to enrich her
> students' learning by using this unique book.
>
> Claudia Holland
>
> --
>
> [***** removed an attachment of type text/x-vcard which had a name 
> of chollan3.vcf]


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Sanford G. Thatcher
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