I always considered the cost of photocopying a book to be the upper bound
on its price and my ethical system (complete and consistent) does not
recognize the rights of sellers - particularly the rights of sellers who
did not make (with their own hands and minds) that which they are
selling. In short, I am with Thoreau on commerce. (It is loathsome and
indulgence in it makes one 'fair game' with an unrestricted season and no
limit.)
I wrote a chapter in a book concerning which the publisher's agent
regretted he was unable to offer me the 50% author's discount, which
would have reduced the price to only $100 - for cold type. But, the
record for me was a book of thermophysical properties of a couple of
hundred pages and a price tag of $2500. ( I can't end the previous
sentence with an exclamation point as you might suppose I mean 2500!, a
truly astronomical number that might induce fainting spells.)
Regards / Tom
P.S., I don't know what has gotten into me lately. I am writing what I
think. Dangerous.