This might interest some on the gutvol list ? ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Robert Michaelson <rmichael@northwestern.edu> Date: Nov 10, 2005 4:41 AM Subject: [CHMINF-L] GENERAL: Copyrights as a textbook scam? To: CHMINF-L@listserv.indiana.edu Please excuse duplicate posting. Another economist discusses publishers' monopolies -- this time as applied to textbooks, but it seems to me that one could make a parallel argument about journals, particularly on the Internet. Are Copyrights a Textbook Scam? Alternatives to Financing Textbook Production in the 21st Century" by Dean Baker, Center for Economic and Policy Research: <http://www.cepr.net/publications/textbook_2005_09.pdf> "Economists view copyright monopolies as inefficient because they create a large gap between the price of a textbook and the marginal cost - the cost to the publisher of creating an additional copy. This cost can effectively be zero, when the option exists to transfer material over the Internet. This gap between price and marginal cost is the exact same issue that leads economists to view trade barriers as inefficient." "Of course there is a rationale for copyright monopolies: the monopoly allows the publisher to recoup the expenses of producing the book, the fees paid to the author(s), editors, illustrators, and other upfront costs... However, copyrights are only one way to cover these costs and not necessarily the best way." Bob Michaelson Northwestern University Library Evanston, Illinois 60208 USA rmichael@northwestern.edu CHMINF-L Archives (also to join or leave CHMINF-L, etc.) http://listserv.indiana.edu/archives/chminf-l.html Search the CHMINF-L archives at: https://listserv.indiana.edu/cgi-bin/wa-iub.exe?S1=chminf-l