In class when we were looking at the book Professor Phillips authored and all of the images that he had cleared I started to think about all of the image in my art history textbook. Do the publishers have to clear every image? In fact, I found this article about an art school that was forcing students to buy an image-less textbook for $180. The publishers of the textbook said that if they aquired all of the image rights the book would cost $800.An excerpt from the pictureless textbook:
I don’t see how this book could add any value to an art class. The page above shows the uselessness of such a text. This is an example of where licensing does more harm than good, because students are paying $180 for useless garbage. Truly, this event is a stain on the face of education.
This really does seem to be a cheap cop out, especially as an art history book. However, what’s interesting is how the book cannot display the picture, but is allowed to refer people to where they can find it. In that regard, you could say that they save money by making students work for it, which is a pretty decent waste of time, not to mention an inconvenience.