I have a problem with legal publishers generally. They rip customers off with high prices and profit by denying meaningful access to legal materials and knowledge to the people who need that access the most.
I was flipping through my friendly attorney’s magazine, De Rebus, when I came across a review of what looks like a fascinating book titled “Defamation and Freedom of Speech” by Dario Milo. The book sounds fascinating and the kind of book I want to add to my library because it is focussed squarely on one of the main themes of my work as a new media lawyer. The book is actually a modified version of Milo’s PhD thesis which I believe he completed at Oxford university so I have little doubt this is a great book to have. The catch is that the book costs around $100 on the Oxford University website (or £55 at the UK Amazon store) and is advertised for R700 in De Rebus. Kalahari.net is selling it for the reduced price of R642.56 which is a little lower than a direct exchange rate conversion price. The book has about 270 pages and Kalahari.net is selling it in softcover. Maybe I am just a little bit cheap when it comes to these sorts of books but that strikes me as pricey and despite how much I’d like to have the book, I don’t think I want to spend that much money on a book!
I am all for supporting our academics and paying for their books but paying this much for these books goes a little beyond the supporting them, covering costs and earning the publisher a modest profit (unless I misunderstood these sorts of things?). Another example of this is the wonderful book my friend and colleague, David Bilchitz, wrote a little while ago titled “Poverty and Fundamental Rights: The Justification and Enforcement of Socio-Economic Rights“. It is an important book written by one of our brightest academics and social thinkers and it goes for R527.81 on Kalahari.net. David’s book should be read by as many people as possible given its vital message and yet it is practically out of reach of most people. If this is just the cost of such books then what about a free or cheaper digital version? Digital versions don’t carry the printing and distribution costs of their paper siblings so why not make it available for less (or even nothing?). Lock it down in a PDF but make it available.
On the topic of digital versions, there is a legal diary published by Hortors which is pretty handy. It contains a directory of lawyers and useful information about the courts and other offices. I used it a couple times in the past just for the directory info. It is a solid, thick diary/directory and well put together. I received an order form for the 2009 edition today. Here are the prices:
I don’t really mind the physical diary prices but the so-called “eDiary” price is just nuts! R750 for a digital version of the diary? That is just profiteering. It could be a lot cheaper and be used by just about every lawyer with an Internet connection and instead it is just another example of how the publishers exploit the legal community.
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The eDiary from Hortors, unlike the Printed version is maintained on a daily basis – providing weekly updates to the users of the electronic diary either via CD or live update. It contains a searchable database of Attorneys, Advocates, Sheriffs etc… and in providing such a largest database requires constant maintainence which is why it is priced at that. The eDiary is a software package and not an online web service.
The eDiary from Hortors, unlike the Printed version is maintained on a daily basis – providing weekly updates to the users of the electronic diary either via CD or live update. It contains a searchable database of Attorneys, Advocates, Sheriffs etc… and in providing such a largest database requires constant maintainence which is why it is priced at that. The eDiary is a software package and not an online web service.
Ok, that makes more sense then. Thanks for clarifying how the eDiary version is maintained.
Ok, that makes more sense then. Thanks for clarifying how the eDiary version is maintained.
he book has about 270 pages and Kalahari.net is selling it in softcover. Maybe I am just a little bit cheap when it comes to these sorts of books but that strikes me as pricey and despite how much I’d like to have the book, I don’t think I want to spend that much money on a book!
Too many numbers…it looks nice.
Well I have to look into it once more.
Thanks for your information.
It's a number game. They're thinking there are bound to be suckers who advertise when they send the invitation to advertise to thousands of lawyers. There's a sucker born everyday.
thanks for the post