----------(1)
>>From ssturgeo@SALEM.MASS.EDU Tue May  4 09:01:09 1999
Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 16:36:09 -0400
From: "Susan E. Sturgeon" <ssturgeo@SALEM.MASS.EDU>
Subject: Re: IJCS Index billing (John D. Crissinger)

No, BUT it has been my understanding for a long time that anything
received in the US mails which is unsolicited is free.  You need not pay
for it nor return it.

SUSAN STURGEON
SERIALS DEPARTMENT
SALEM STATE COLLEGE LIBRARY
352 LAFAYETTE ST.
SALEM MA 01970
NEW E-mail address:susan.sturgeon@salem.mass.edu

> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 14:49:32 -0400
> From: "John D. Crissinger" <crissinger.5@OSU.EDU>
> Subject: IJCS Index billing
>
> Greetings! Our previous serials vendor just contacted us concerning Brill's
> recent billing for the index issue (vol. 1-36, December 1996) of
> International Journal of Comparative Sociology. According to the vendor,
> they just received a request for payment for the issue. The issue was sent
> to us in 1997.
>
> The publisher states in the preface of the issue: "In view of its value for
> your research collection we have taken the liberty of sending the Index to
> you now as a supplement to your 1996 subscription..." I understand that
> statement stating that the publisher took the liberty of sending the issue
> unsolicited by us. Now, over two years later, they are billing us. Of
> course, we are given the option of returning the issue if we do not want to
> pay for it, providing we haven't stamped it!
>
> Anyone else sharing this bizarre experience?
>
>
> **************************
>                              *
> JOHN D. CRISSINGER       *
> NEWARK CAMPUS LIBRARY    *              Tele: 740-366-9306
> OSU-N/COTC                   *          Fax:  740-366-9264
> 1179 UNIVERSITY DR.          *          email: crissinger.5@osu.edu
> NEWARK, OH 43055         *
>                          *
> **************************
>
>                 "Optimism: a cheerful frame of mind
>                 that enables a tea kettle to sing
>                 though in hot water up to its nose!"
>                 (with thanks to a fortune cookie)
>

----------(2)
>>From kmaxwell@MIT.EDU Tue May  4 09:01:09 1999
Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 16:43:00 -0400
From: Kim Maxwell <kmaxwell@MIT.EDU>
Subject: Re: IJCS Index billing (John D. Crissinger)

John,

We paid $62.50 for that supplement (for some reason, our subscription is
directly with Brill, and not with an agent, which in this case could prove
to be an interesting comparison!). That invoice was dated 28 November 1996,
and we paid it in January of 1997.

I'm also reminded of something I read recently in _Against the Grain_, which
may or may not be applicable here.  in the Feburary 1999 issue, Troy Johnson
wrote a piece in the Legal Issues column called "Legally Speaking -- How
Recent Litigation Has Impacted the West Publishing Group and the Entire
Legal Publishing Industry."  He writes about guidelines established in 1975
by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in regards to legal publishing, which
can be found in their entierty in Title 16 Part 256 of the Code of Federal
Regulations.  Interesting to note is the following:

"There is also at least one area within the guidelines that gives the legal
information consumer some redress.  The guides contain a note where the FTC
states that this act will be enforced in accordance with Section 3009 of the
Postal Reorganization Act which designates that unordered merchandise can be
kept as a gift.  This was in response to the old practice of shipping
"related titles" without consumer consent." [p. 48]

Maybe some of the law librarians out there can help me out, but Brill's
billing practices just don't seem right.

________________________________________
Kim Maxwell
Ass't Librarian for Serials Acquisitions
MIT Libraries, Room 14E-210
77 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
phone: 617-253-7028
fax:   617-253-2464
email: kmaxwell@mit.edu

_________________________________________________________________________
Kim Maxwell / MIT Libraries, Serials Acquisitions, 14E-210 / 617-253-7028

----------(3)
>>From ppicerno@CHOCTAW.ASTATE.EDU Tue May  4 09:01:09 1999
Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 16:07:27 -0500
From: Peter Picerno <ppicerno@CHOCTAW.ASTATE.EDU>
Subject: Re: IJCS Index billing (John D. Crissinger)

It would seem to me that anything which was sent to you ("In view of its
value for your research collection we have taken the liberty of sending
the Index to you now ...") and which was unsolicited falls into the
category of a gift, therefore you have no obligation to pay for it.