[no subject]

["Sally Morris \(Morris Associates\)" <sally@morris-assocs.demon.co.uk=>]

Surely most publishers offer individual articles for sale to
non-subscribers?  When I was involved with these things a couple
of years ago I vaguely recall that the average price was of the
order of =A310.  Some (e.g. AIP) also offer a price for 'bundles'
of 12/25/50 articles.

As far as I am aware, however, most publishers' individual
article sales are fairly low (ours certainly are on Learned
Publishing).  I have long wondered whether a substantial drop in
price might influence article sales, though publishers have told
me that a relatively modest price change appears to have little
or no effect.  I'd be extremely interested in any data on price
elasticity for individual articles.  The effect might be even
more marked if (like iTunes) there was a single, simple sales
interface;  indeed, I rather think that if publishers don't do
it, someone else (Google?) will.  Have a look at the British
Library's 'BL Direct'...

Of course, readers can obtain non-subscribed articles through
inter-library loan (in the UK, usually centralized through the
British Library) in which case the price (for non-commercial
purposes) tends to be substantially less than that normally
charged by the publisher, although the total cost (including
processing costs at both ends) may be considerably higher.

Unless the publisher has been short-sighted enough only to obtain
a licence from the author to sell the articles 'bundled' as part
of the journal, there would be no permission issues involved.
The ALPSP Model Licence is an example of how to ensure that this
is explicitly covered (as well as other possible revenue
sources).  If the publisher has obtained a transfer of copyright,
of course, there is no problem.

I think your correspondent might be thinking of the Tasini and
National Geographic cases, where (freelance) authors and
photographers claimed they had only granted permission - as I
recall - for one-time permission publication in the
newspaper/magazine, and not for subsequent resale as part of an
electronic (online or CDrom) package.  The issue was electronic
rights (and no journal publisher in its right mind fails to
secure these, if not securing copyright in its entirety) and not
the right to sell articles individually.  Unless there are other
cases I've missed?


Sally Morris
Consultant, Morris Associates (Publishing Consultancy)
South House, The Street
Clapham, Worthing, West Sussex BN13 3UU, UK
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