I, DAVID HALLIDAY CROOM, of 11 New Fetter Lane, London MAKE OATH AND SAY as follows:-
1. I am the Managing Director of Routledge, publishers, of 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE. The company known as Routledge is the result of a merger of four imprints, Routledge & Kegan Paul ("RKP"), Methuen, Tavistock and Croom Helm.
2. From an examination of the records maintained by Routledge, I am able to provide sales figures for certain philosophy titles published by Routledge. The titles referred to were originally published by RKP in hardback. A schedule of these figures is set out below:-
A. Ludwig Wittgenstein: Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus Tr. Pears 1975, paperback edition.
Rate of Royalties: Hardback:
15% published price on sales with up to 50% discount
15% net receipts on sales with more than 50% discount
Paperback:
Home Sales 10% published price
Export Sales 10% net receipts
| HARDBACK | PAPERBACK | ||||
| Year | Price £ | No. Sales | Price £ | No. Sales | Total Royalty £ |
| 1987/88 Apr-Dec. | 10.75/14.95 | 44 | 4.95/5.50 | 4234 | 2109.68 |
| 1988 | 10.75/14.95 | 85 | 4.95/5.50 | 549 | 535.22 |
| 1989 | 20.00/25.00 | 54 | 6.95 | 4849 | 1281.90 |
| 1990 | 25.00 | 40 | 6.95/6.99 | 906 | 707.2 |
| 4634.04 |
B. Karl Popper. The Open Society and its Enemies Vols. 1 and 2 (first published 1962).
Rate of Royalties:
10% of published price on sales with up to 50% discount
10% of net receipts of sales with more than 50% discount
Volume 1
| HARDBACK | PAPERBACK | ||||
| Year | Price £ | No. Sales | Price £ | No. Sales | Total Royalty £ |
| 1985/86 | 12.95 | 20 | 6.95 | 1252 | 830.34 |
| 1986/87 | 12.95/13.75 | 14 | 6.95/7.50 | 735 | 500.01 |
| 1987/88 | 13.75 | 11 | 7.50/8.95 | 766 | 587.13 |
| 1988/89 | 7.50/8.95 | 828 | 734.56 | ||
| 1989/90 | 8.95/9.95 | 969 | 532.86 | ||
| 3184.90 |
Volume 2
| HARDBACK | PAPERBACK | ||||
| Year | Price £ | No. Sales | Price £ | No. Sales | Total Royalty £ |
| 1985/86 | 12.95 | 25 | 6.95 | 1252 | 807.42 |
| 1986/87 | (-2) | 6.95/7.50 | 695 | 466.79 | |
| 1987/88 | 7.50/8.95 | 683 | 498.91 | ||
| 1988/99 | 7.50/8.95 | 694 | 609.89 | ||
| 1989/90 | 8.95 | 399 | 342.21 | ||
| 2725.22 |
C. Peter Winch: The Idea of a Social Science, paperback edition.
Rate of Royalties:
7.5% of published price on all sales with up to 50% discount
10% of net receipts on sales with more than 50% discount
PAPERBACK
| Year | Price £ | No. Sales | Total Royalty £ |
| 1985/86 | 1.98 | 450 | 89.10 |
| 1985/86 | 2.75/4.95 | 491 | 176.59 |
| 1986/87 | 4.25/4.95 | 404 | 141.26 |
| 1987/88 | 4.25/5.25 | 823 | 253.13 |
| 1988/89 | 5.25 | 288 | 112.06 |
| 772.11 |
3. I have provided details of the rate of royalties and the price of the book in respect of the period shown and the royalties paid. [amended to: ...the period shown and have calculated the maximum royalty payable, assuming that all copies sold in the UK at the highest applicable published price.] Royalties may be paid as a percentage of published price or of publisher's net receipts (that is, published price less discount). Discounts range from a minimum trade discount of 25% to a maximum of 80% in the case of bulk overseas sales*; the standard discount used by Routledge in costing a new book is 37% on home sales and 40% on export sales.
4. Since 1988 when Routledge was fomed as a publishing company, Routledge has always calculated the royalties payable on sales of both paperback and hardback books as a percentage of net receipts unless, as occasionally occurs, the parties negotiate an alternative arrangement. Prior to the merger, it had been standard practice for Croom Helm to calculate royalties as a percentage of net receipts. I believe that it was RKP's practice to calculate royalties as a percentage of published price.
5. In my view, a royalty rate of 12.5% of net receipts on hardback copies of a scholarly book sold in the UK is unduly high for a title contracted in recent years: the standard royalty rate paid by Routledge is 10% of net receipts on hardback books sold in the UK and overseas and 7.5 % of net receipts for sales of paperback books in the UK and overseas.
6. Provision for an increase in the royalty rate in certain circumstances is not uncommon, but is specifically negotiated with individual authors or their agents. Routledge's standard form contract does not contain such an 'escalation' clause.
7. Generally it takes nine or ten months from receipt and approval of the manuscript for Routledge to publish a book. Royalty statements are sent to authors on a yearly basis.
Drafted 21st June, amended 25th June , 1991.
Sworn by DAVID HALLIDAY CROOM at 100 New Fetter Lane, London, 25th June 1991
Go to Malcolm's Statement of Claim, to the Case History, to the Affidavits: Ivon Asquith (1); Asquith (2); Henry Hardy; William Shaw (solicitor) (1); Sir Roger Elliott (1); Margaret Goodall; to the Witness Statements: Elliott; Hardy; Richard Charkin; Nicola Bion; Goodall, to the courtroom testimony of the Oxford Six, 14/3/1990: Elliott; Goodall; Bion; Asquith; Charkin; Hardy, to the testimony of Andrew Malcolm 13/3/1990, to the CHANCERY COURT JUDGMENT, to the Cambridge package and the Adrasteia package, to the publishing contract affidavits: Giles Gordon (1); Mark Le Fanu, to the APPEAL COURT JUDGMENT, to the damages affidavits: Alan Ryan; Asquith (3); Jeremy Mynott; Giles Gordon (2); Fred Nolan; Roy Edgley, to McGregor on Royalties (transcript), to the DAMAGES FINDINGS, and to the Settlement agreement.
Return to the Malcolm vs. Oxford I (1984-92) Index, to the Malcolm vs. Oxford II (2001-02) Index, to the blurb for Making Names, to its reviews, to The Remedy, or to the SITE INDEX.