johnm@uts.amdahl.com (John Murray) (01/19/89)
Some time ago on this newsgroup, the (high) price of textbooks was the subject of considerable discussion. Reference was made to the difference in price between US editions and the corresponding versions which are on sale elsewhere on the planet. I recently had an opportunity to check this. Here are typical price comparisons, made at the current (low) US dollar exchange rates. The foreign prices were obtained in college bookstores in Europe, where sales tax is already included in the price (or else there is no sales tax on books). Thus, the foreign prices are net. The US prices were obtained at Stanford University bookstore, and sales tax still has to be added where needed. The exchange rates and sales tax variations only serve to make the actual price differences even greater. Author(s) Title Prices: US Foreign --------- ----- ---------------------- Ano, Sethi & Ullman Compilers $46.00+tax $28.50net Charniak & McDermott Intro. to AI $41.00+tax $27.00net Sanders & McCormick Human Factors in Eng $50.00+tax $25.00net The "International" editions are identical to the US editions and are usually published by the same company (McGraw-Hill, Addison Wesley, etc.). They are frequently printed somewhere in the Far East, and are often softcover, even though the US version may be hardback and printed on heavier paper. Typically they carry some small print warning about not re-exporting them from the country of original consignment. Perhaps someone on this newsgroup who has published a text book might be able to explain the differential, or at least ask their publisher about it. All the talk about bookstore margins and mailing costs doesn't count, as far as I can see. I don't know what the situation is with regard to royalties on foreign sales; the countries where international editions are printed and sold certainly are signatories to copyright treaties. It seems to me that US text book publishers run an import cartel, whereby no book can be imported unless they've already decided not to publish a US edition. So much for free trade, fair competition, and freedom of information!! - John Murray (My own opinions, not necessarily endorsed by my employer).
tarvaine@tukki.jyu.fi (Tapani Tarvainen) (01/20/89)
[I guess I should redirect followup, but I've no idea where, especially as I don't get any of the talk.groups.] In article <f0i=13eKxp10109JoYo@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> johnm@uts.amdahl.com (John Murray) writes: [...] >It seems to me that US text book publishers run an import cartel, whereby >no book can be imported unless they've already decided not to publish a >US edition. So much for free trade, fair competition, and freedom of >information!! I recently read about an incident in the USA (some 60 years ago, so this isn't exactly up to date information, but old laws don't die...) involving a law according to which any English-language book, published anywhere in the world, will lose its copyright if a separate US edition isn't published within 6 months. I understood it was intended to protect US publishers. Does anybody know about this: was there ever such a law, when was it repealed or is it still in force, etc. (For the curious, the incident referred to was this: Whey Joyce's Ulysses was first brought to the USA, it was seized by the customs as obscene. This was later overruled in court, but by that time 6 months had passed, and there were any number of unauthorized editions around, claiming the copyright had lapsed because of the 6 month rule.) ------------------------------------------------------------------ Tapani Tarvainen BitNet: tarvainen@finjyu Internet: tarvainen@jylk.jyu.fi -- OR -- tarvaine@tukki.jyu.fi