When it come to copyrighted or permissionable material, we actually have a whole team of people whose job it is to make sure we're not stealing someone else's thoughts and ideas. If something is considered public domain, then so be it - but if it is not, we ask permission to use references, research, quotes, etc. Sometimes we have to pay to use these materials, and sometimes they're just granted. More often than not, colleague research papers are allowed to be cited or discussed free of charge.
As for your other point, I don't doubt that this is happening. And of course in grad level courses profs are not using our textbooks, but not necessarily for the reasons you think. The number of actual books available for upper level academia are limited as this is not what the large textbook publishers specialize in. That's more for university presses. We market for the core undergraduate, and, quite frankly, I have but a handful of books that would even be appropriate for grad level or PHD studies. If you find your prof using a textbook, they usually are doing so to give a foundation or basic overview.
As someone who works in publishing, I have the following comments:
1. Don't steal someone else's copyright. Just don't. I know it doesn't sound like much, but the way I see it, an author's book, for whatever reason they choose to write it, is their intellectual heart.
2. I realize that textbooks are expensive, but so are the materials, the labor, the permissions costs, the manufacture. Despite what the general public thinks, we're not trying to be unfair or bilk the unsuspecting students. It's what it costs and we need to make a profit like every other company out there. Students spend thousands of dollars on expensive clothes, vacations, ipods, iphones, and all those things they do instead of going to class. And actually, while we're on the subject of price, can we talk about the skyrocketing cost of education?!? Why the rage is focused on textbooks instead of how much large universities charge for housing, for food, for tuition... well, it is very interesting.
3. So can authors and publishers get rich off selling textbooks? Absolutely. But for every book that sells a million copies, there are dozens that fail. As publishers, we have to pour a huge amount of money into each new project and hope that it works - that we've estimated the market size correctly, that we have a good product. And as much as we hate to admit it, we fail a lot of the time. And then all that money is lost.
4. The publishing model is growing outdated, but until you can get your professors to choose books that are online only, or to embrace the digital age, we've hit a wall. Most won't even consider a book that they can't flip through. We already offer online only books at a fraction of the cost, and even in print at many different price points, all of which are designed to offer choices and flexibility - and cost savings. That the prof chooses not to take advantage of it is their choice.
5. The book adoption system is flawed because the professors choose the text and the students pay for it. The professors get free supplements, free desk copies, free support. If you want to lower the price of textbooks, tell your professors that you don't need the free stuff that comes with it. You don't want the CD, or the study guide, and your professor should stop being lazy and make their own power points so I don't have to hire someone to do it, someone to accuracy check it, someone to produce it, and someone to post it online. Tell them to write their own instructor's manual, and their own test bank problems with which to fail you.
6. I know a lot of people think that professors will donate their time and energy to produce books that are free of charge. And some profs might. It also probably varies by discipline. But for the great majority, professors are like everyone else. They're worried about getting tenure, about establishing a good academic reputation, about paying their mortgage and sending their kids to college. There's a trade off for every project they undertake, and usually, with books, the motivation is monetary. Altruism is not terribly high on most people's priority lists, I'm sorry to say.
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks for your comments.
When it come to copyrighted or permissionable material, we actually have a whole team of people whose job it is to make sure we're not stealing someone else's thoughts and ideas. If something is considered public domain, then so be it - but if it is not, we ask permission to use references, research, quotes, etc. Sometimes we have to pay to use these materials, and sometimes they're just granted. More often than not, colleague research papers are allowed to be cited or discussed free of charge.
As for your other point, I don't doubt that this is happening. And of course in grad level courses profs are not using our textbooks, but not necessarily for the reasons you think. The number of actual books available for upper level academia are limited as this is not what the large textbook publishers specialize in. That's more for university presses. We market for the core undergraduate, and, quite frankly, I have but a handful of books that would even be appropriate for grad level or PHD studies. If you find your prof using a textbook, they usually are doing so to give a foundation or basic overview.
As someone who works in publishing, I have the following comments:
1. Don't steal someone else's copyright. Just don't. I know it doesn't sound like much, but the way I see it, an author's book, for whatever reason they choose to write it, is their intellectual heart.
2. I realize that textbooks are expensive, but so are the materials, the labor, the permissions costs, the manufacture. Despite what the general public thinks, we're not trying to be unfair or bilk the unsuspecting students. It's what it costs and we need to make a profit like every other company out there. Students spend thousands of dollars on expensive clothes, vacations, ipods, iphones, and all those things they do instead of going to class. And actually, while we're on the subject of price, can we talk about the skyrocketing cost of education?!? Why the rage is focused on textbooks instead of how much large universities charge for housing, for food, for tuition... well, it is very interesting.
3. So can authors and publishers get rich off selling textbooks? Absolutely. But for every book that sells a million copies, there are dozens that fail. As publishers, we have to pour a huge amount of money into each new project and hope that it works - that we've estimated the market size correctly, that we have a good product. And as much as we hate to admit it, we fail a lot of the time. And then all that money is lost.
4. The publishing model is growing outdated, but until you can get your professors to choose books that are online only, or to embrace the digital age, we've hit a wall. Most won't even consider a book that they can't flip through. We already offer online only books at a fraction of the cost, and even in print at many different price points, all of which are designed to offer choices and flexibility - and cost savings. That the prof chooses not to take advantage of it is their choice.
5. The book adoption system is flawed because the professors choose the text and the students pay for it. The professors get free supplements, free desk copies, free support. If you want to lower the price of textbooks, tell your professors that you don't need the free stuff that comes with it. You don't want the CD, or the study guide, and your professor should stop being lazy and make their own power points so I don't have to hire someone to do it, someone to accuracy check it, someone to produce it, and someone to post it online. Tell them to write their own instructor's manual, and their own test bank problems with which to fail you.
6. I know a lot of people think that professors will donate their time and energy to produce books that are free of charge. And some profs might. It also probably varies by discipline. But for the great majority, professors are like everyone else. They're worried about getting tenure, about establishing a good academic reputation, about paying their mortgage and sending their kids to college. There's a trade off for every project they undertake, and usually, with books, the motivation is monetary. Altruism is not terribly high on most people's priority lists, I'm sorry to say.