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A Kink in the
Coursepacks
In an example of where interest of authors, consumers, distributors, and
publishers, collided, Kenneth Green, in Converge magazine, wrote an
article called Consumer, the Courts, and the Quest for Content,
which described how Kinko’s’ was forced to stop selling coursepacks
to college students by lawsuits initiated by textbook publishers. A coursepack
typically is a collection of articles (even chapters of books) that a professor
has recommended that students read (often required reading) for a course.
Thinking back to my undergraduate days, there were classes where the recommended
reading pages outnumbered the pages in the course textbook. Back in the day, the
student (me) had to plunk change into a copy machine to create a hardcopy of the
recommended reading. (Today’s students can buy a prepaid card, which at least
eliminates the scramble for change.)
To make life simpler
for students, professors often worked with companies like Kinko’s (as well as
university bookstores) to have coursepacks pre-printed before the start of the
course and students could buy the coursepack. (If the professor did not work
directly with the distributors, coursepacks could be created from the course
syllabus.) An important note, was not only were coursepacks available from
companies like Kinko’s, coursepacks were also sold by university bookstores.
For these companies, making copies of coursepacks was profitable and also
provided a service that their customers wanted.
Publishers Versus Distributors
Green noted that while the customers were happy, publishers were not. Green
pointed out that before pre-printed (or digital) coursepacks,
students were plunking down change and making copies; the publishers had
to rely on students to follow the fair usage guidelines (these guidelines are
almost always posted by the copy machines in bookstores and
libraries copy). But when companies like Kinko’s began printing and
selling coursepacks, publishers could pursue copyright infringement because
these companies kept records. Green stated: “[Publishers believed that] by
reproducing book chapters and journal articles to produce coursepacks for
college students, Kinko’s employees were distributing huge volumes of
copyrighted content without permission or payment.”
Green wrote that
Kinko’s argument was that they were not “charging students for content [but
rather] for paper and duplication costs”.
According to Green, the courts ruled in favor of the publishers because
the courts believed that the “purchase of the [coursepack] obviates purchase
of the full texts”. Simply put,
coursepacks were providing students (and the people who sold them copies) the
ability to avoid buying the whole book. The similarity to Kinko’s and
Napster is that in both cases, consumers were picking and choosing what
they wanted and not really paying for the content. In both cases, the practices
of making the content available was ended.
(A similar ruling was issued in the Princeton University Press versus Michigan
Document Services, Incorporated.)
Green summed up the aftermath as being a situation where the consumers are not
getting what they want which is to buy portions of a book (or music CD) because
publishers still want to sell the entire package of content. Furthermore,
attempts by publishers, such as newspapers to sell articles have not worked as
the cost of parts is more than the cost of the entire newspapers. Green wrote
that for micro-payments, publishers “must acknowledge that the new financial
model is based on unbundled content and micro-payments based on dimes not
dollars.”
An Author’s Perspective
As an author with a
book that is used in classrooms, my preference would be for the entire book to
be sold in its entirety, given that I arranged the content in a specific order
for reading. But as a former student, I remember the frustration of buying a
book and only reading a chapter or two and then, if I was lucky, selling the
book back for half the price I paid. (Which raises another issue, as an author,
I do not receive any royalties on a resale. This may be an argument for
micro-payments as discussed below.)
The Business Reality
The reality for authors as well as publishers is that there are two issues which
have to be addressed or more aptly, proved: 1) can digital rights management
software ensure proper payment for usage by consumers and 2) can authors and
publishers make money from micro-payments (or if it is a dime, then
micro-micro-payments?
The answers are that digital rights management software probably can manage the
collection and payment of micro-payments but whether authors and publishers can
make money with micro-payments is far harder to answer. If we are talking dimes,
then no, the business model won’t work; if we are talking dollars, then
micro-payments may work. Some might believe that textbooks are overpriced and
the consumer is demanding relief by only buying (maybe renting is a better term)
the pages they need. Shouldn’t the publishing industry give the consumer the
relief or convenience they demand? The short answer is the profit from a
successful textbook helps pay for the textbook that was less successful or pays
for the next edition. Perhaps another approach is for authors and publishers
(perhaps multiple authors and publishers will be needed) to market coursepacks
they believe will meet consumer demand. This would require marketing research
beyond just determining whether there is a market for a specific textbook or for
the next edition.
The coursepack dilemma is an excellent example of where the interests of
authors, consumers, distributors, and publishers collided without an
acceptable solution for anyone.
Print On Demand Solutions and Digital Rights Management
An interesting side note is that the technology to create coursepacks has been
greatly aided by advancements in electronic publishing. Consider that many
companies sell products (including printers, scanners, and software) that enable
not only copy stores like Kinko’s but also university bookstores to easily
copy paper books via high-speed scanners, compile, and manage the workflow to
provide a collection of digitized pages that can be printed on demand when a
student places an order. These digitalized coursepacks can be easily updated
with new content as the course syllabus is updated, thus eliminating having to
throw out paper coursepacks or manually update the paper coursepacks.
Furthermore, these systems can be tied into a digital rights management system
to ensure proper accounting for the publishers as well as the distributors.
Reference: Green, K.C. (2001), Consumers, the Courts, and the Quest for Content,
Converge, July, 2001.
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