*sigh*
Sil_liS, my point is that the government should not step in to regulate prices -- especially since the government winds up being the recipient of its own largesse.
The idea behind copyright is that the copyright holder is granted full control over how their works are distributed. It is conditional upon paying taxes, not on being forced to turn over one's books to libraries. The fact that a library wants a book in its collection does not give it the right to demand it
and to force the vendor to provide it at a specific price-point.
It is, in fact, perfectly legal
and ethical for a manufacturer or publisher to charge different groups different amounts; it happens all the time. Penguin runs its own bookstore which sells directly to the public (
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pages/shop/index.html ). They are perfectly capable, legally and morally, of charging the cover price for any book on that site, while selling to distributors and large retailers at 50% less than the cover price. They are not required, legally or morally, to cut the prices at their own bookstore when Amazon offers the book at 50% off the cover price.
The existing restrictions on pricing do not apply to this situation. Random House is not discriminating based on race, gender or religion. They are not raising prices for all libraries in order to damage the competition. They are not charging extra for an essential good during a state of emergency.
And, of course, many non-legislative approaches are available, and can be pursued. Libraries can cut back on buying RH's books; the ALA can work on public awareness; your local library can encourage patrons to express their displeasure to RH.
Thus, it is not an appropriate response to this situation to demand the government to "fix the bad publisher."