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$200 For a Bound Textbook That You Can't Keep?

Posted by Soulskill on from the because-textbook-buyers-have-had-it-too-good-for-too-long dept.

netbuzz writes: "The worst of DRM is set to infest law school casebooks. One publisher, AspenLaw, wants students to pay $200 for a bound casebook, but at the end of class they have to give it back. Aspen is touting this arrangement as a great deal because the buyer will get an electronic version and assorted online goodies once they return the actual book. But they must return the book. Law professors and the Electronic Frontier Foundation are calling it nothing but a cynical attempt to undermine used book sales, as well as the first sale doctrine that protects used bookstores and libraries."

15 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. Because they can. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They aren't in it to make the world a better place. They are in it for the money. And so it is perfectly logical for them to take as much as they can get.

    Vote with your wallet.

    1. Re:Because they can. by epyT-R · · Score: 5, Insightful

      yes, except most universities will go along with it and force would be students to buy the books under those conditions or not go into law. This requires more than just voting with wallets.

    2. Re:Because they can. by sexconker · · Score: 4, Funny

      They aren't in it to make the world a better place. They are in it for the money. And so it is perfectly logical for them to take as much as they can get.

      The publishers, or the students aiming to become lawyers..?

      Yes.

    3. Re:Because they can. by roc97007 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      yes, except most universities will go along with it and force would be students to buy the books under those conditions or not go into law. This requires more than just voting with wallets.

      Photocopier. And yes it may be technically illegal. But sometimes a little civil disobedience is necessary. In fact, as a law student, you could make that your thesis.

      Unbind the book, it saves time. Then re-bind the book or just hand back a stack of loose-leaf -- your choice.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    4. Re: Because they can. by iNaya · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People like you who think we have to PAY TO DO SOMETHING are the reason why society is so fucked up.

      --
      The Unicode standard is over 20 years old. Why does Slashdot not support it?
    5. Re:Because they can. by Bushcat · · Score: 4, Informative

      In my neck of the woods, educational institutions are legally allowed to break copyright for educational purposes. So it's fine to take one book and photocopy it a bazillion times. Result is that most books are cheaper than photocopying. It also means found web assets can be incorporated into teaching materials without the hassle of clearing copyright.

    6. Re:Because they can. by BitZtream · · Score: 5, Informative

      heh, do you realize how many professors require books THEY wrote? Conflict of interest isn't high on the list of priorities to worry about.

      --
      Persistent Volume manager for Kubernetes - https://github.com/dwimsey/openshift-pvmanager
  2. One can only hope... by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 5, Interesting

    That this will create a generation of lawyers and judges who have a fundamental hatred of DRM.

  3. Doubleplusgood! by uCallHimDrJ0NES · · Score: 5, Funny

    How will we change the past if we let these kids keep paper books, eh, comrades?

    --
    Cloudiot: A person who does not see offsite storage as a way to lose control over access to his or her own data.
  4. I would be laughing... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would be laughing at law students and law teachers and lawyers in general, if I didn't know they'd "recoup" that money by screwing me later.

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  5. This has little to do with copyright law by l2718 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A manufacturer is attempting to circumvent the secondary market by only lending its products instead of selling them. This isn't an end run around the "first sale" principle exactly because the publisher doesn't plan to sell the books in the first place.

    What they are trying to do should be legal -- but hopefully it won't work because professors will refuse to assign this textbooks.

    1. Re:This has little to do with copyright law by l2718 · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'm a professor, actually. In two words, you're wrong . If the book is only used in the class of the professor who taught it, the book will go out of print in a jiffy, and in any case the total harm to a single class of students is negligible. For a book to actually stay in print, many professors in many universities must use it. In this case very few will, and the problem will solve itself.

  6. Re:The textbook industry... by tylikcat · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I keep having conversations with my students where I explain why they shouldn't pirate books, or at least should make sure that the authors are getting paid (for instance, buying a legal copy then pirating / cracking it if it has DRM to get a useful one.) ...and yet I have a lot of trouble trying to work up enthusiasm for telling them not to pirate textbooks.* Particularly problematic, as I've shown a few how to torrent. (Heck, I've shown faculty members how to torrent.)

    * As opposed to professional reference books.

  7. Re:University is just a market anyhow by bobbied · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I disagree that it is ALL of them trying to suck you dry. There are some out there who are interested in providing education over just taking your money. They might be hard to find, but they are out there.

    But, let's face it. With all the easily available student loans out there that are federally backed, sucking money out of students is a profitable business. The very program that makes federal loans so readily available has artificially increased the price to the point where a 4 year degree can cost a $100K. My tuition was under 5K a year some 20 plus years ago. My whole education cost under $20K for a 4 year degree. Now we are paying $25K a year, 5 times the price? Something is wrong here.

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101
  8. Re:What happens if... by bobbied · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh that is easy. You charge them a deposit, refundable upon return of the book.

    Oh wait, this is a law school... You just sue them to get it back...

    --
    "File to fit, pound to insert, paint to match" - Aircraft Maintenance 101