I'm sure that CBC will be relieved to see that Aspen has supplanted them
as the most vilified publisher on law-lib--at least by the time I finish
this message.
Last week we received from Aspen "Practitioners Guide to Insurance
Litigation" which seemed to be a classic unsolicited shipping. I tried
unsuccessfully to call the Customer Service number printed on the
invoice--no one was answering that day! I tried again a couple of days
later, and was connected to an automated system which offered no
appropriate options, since I did not want to buy anything. I resolved to
write my usual letter, telling them that we would keep the material,
regarding it as a gift under 39 USC 3009. This morning we received a fat
supplement to this publication, billed at $173.50! A huge "update" less
than a week after receiving the set! I immediately tried to call again,
but got only a message that they are closed due to the blizzard in the East.
I am interested in how many libraries received this material. This seems
to me perhaps the most blatant example I have seen of what has happened
in legal publishing in the past few years. Obviously the FTC Guidelines
mean nothing. I will write a letter, with a copy to CRIV, but my present
mood is despair. These publishers, especially the European-owned ones,
apparently do not realize that they are destroying their best
customers.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Joe K. Stephens
Law Librarian Phone: (503) 986-5640
Oregon Supreme Court Library Fax: (503) 986-5560
1163 State Street E-Mail: jstephen@willamette.edu
Salem, Oregon 97310
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