Is it an ethical practice for book-buyers to roam the halls of college campuses and buy these… 1 answer below »
FE E L I N G “USED”While attending college, I spent a few yearsworking at a used-textbook store. Themajority of the books we sold were purchased fromstudents, individuals, and used-book wholesalers.Sometimes, when putting books out on the shelves, Iwould encounter books with phrases like “Instructor’sCopy” or “Sample Copy—Not for Resale” printedon the covers. When I asked my boss about thesebooks, he told me that they were free copies givenout to instructors, but it was perfectly legal for us tosell the books because we had purchased them fromanother person. This made sense to me and satisfiedmy curiosity.Later in the day, my boss showed me a pile ofthese sample-copy books and said that we shouldtake colored tape and cover up the areas thatcontained the phrases such as “Sample Copy.” WhenI asked why we did this, he told me that, althoughwe were legally able to sell the books, the phrasessometimes discouraged customers from buying thesecopies even though the content was identical to thestandard copies. I then asked how we got thesebooks if they were instructor copies and were notsupposed to be resold.I was told that the publishing companies sentfree copies of books to professors to let them readand evaluate them in the hope that they would orderthe book as material for their classes. We got some ofthese books when professors sold their sample copiesto us or a used-book wholesaler, but the majoritycame from individuals who went around collegecampuses (calling themselves book-buyers) buyingthese books from professors and then selling them toa used-book store or a used-book wholesaler.My boss also stated that, because the contentinside was the same, we really did not care if theywere the standard copy or a sample copy and,therefore, we bought and sold these books for thesame prices as the standard copies.1. Is it a socially responsible (legal? ethical?)practice for a bookstore to purchase and thenresell these books that were given out as freecopies?2. Is it an ethical practice for the bookstore toconceal the fact that these books are, indeed,instructor’s or sample copies?3. Is it an ethical practice for book-buyers to roamthe halls of college campuses and buy these freebooks from professors who no longer want them?4. Is it an ethical practice for professors to sellbooks that were sent to them as free samplecopies?
