Re: Advice from Peter

["Anthony Watkinson" <anthony.watkinson@btopenworld.com>]

I am not an expert either and I am also a foreigner but when I go to a
public meeting of the AAP in the audience is an employee of that
organisation and if discussion turns to business terms she always rises
from her seat and asks the discussion to be terminated. Business terms is
also much wider than pricing and covers licensing terms in general. The
AAP may be wrong in their interpretation of US law but they are certainly
consistent in urging it - in my experience. I should add in case the word
"public" misleads that the same interpretation is operative in private
meetings I attend.

I have no idea what libraries are able to discuss. Surely someone at ALA
and ARL is lurking here and can tell us.

Anthony Watkinson

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Goodman" <David.Goodman@liu.edu>
To: <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>; <Karl.Bridges@uvm.edu>;
<pbanks@diabetes.org>
Sent: Friday, November 11, 2005 9:57 PM
Subject: RE: Advice from Peter

> Peter,
>
> Do you mean discussions of pricing, discussions giving specific prices
> and detail of contracts, or discussions of the advisability or legality
> of having such discussions.
>
> You give an opinion about the legality of private discussions at a
> meeting. But I believe Karl was asking about public discussion at a
> meeting. I, and you, have been at many a meeting where publishers
> presented openly their pricing structure, generally for the purpose of
> trying to convince prospective purchasers that they were getting a fair
> deal. At any rate, I suggest that it is exactly the private arrangements
> behind a closed door that are likely to be anticompetitive.
>
> And I remember the title of the precursor to this list on the web, the
> "Newsletter on Serials Pricing issues."
>
> Extending your theory, is it legal to post a price list on the web, as
> most publishers do?  Another publisher could use this information for
> such purposes as not charging a higher price for similar material.
>
> I have frequently given advice on pricing on this and other lists, in
> various periodicals, and in many open and private conversations, and so
> have many others.
>
> I'm not a lawyer, as is obvious, but perhaps Peter is using the legal
> structure that prohibits anticompetitive practices to prohibit the
> discussion of pro-competitive practices.
>
> Dr. David Goodman
> Associate Professor
> Palmer School of Library and Information Science
> Long Island University
> dgoodman@liu.edu
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu on behalf of Peter Banks
> Sent: Thu 11/10/2005 9:36 PM
> To: Karl.Bridges@uvm.edu
> Subject: Re: Response from Ted Bergstrom to Ann Okerson
>
> Please don't make this into a publisher conspiracy.
>
> I was making the point for the sake of participants in this list
> serve--and Ann especially, whose neck is on the line. You should not
> discuss pricing on any listserve, on any subject. If you doubt me, ask
> your attorney.
>
> What happens in private conversations at meetings is your business.
>
> Peter Banks
> Acting Vice President for Publications/Publisher
> American Diabetes Association
> Email: pbanks@diabetes.org