British Libraries are prepared to forgo Elsevier and Wiley big deal subs if terms not right

I have been arguing for some time that the model was broken, and that academic publishers were making the same mistakes that music industry started making in the late 90s. The digital economy should produce massive cost scale efficiencies, and democratization of technology means that the publishers need to drastically reduce their cost models to be seen as preserving information for something other than sheer greed and profit. But they have been slow in responding, if not simply dismissing the arguments. Now RLUK have announced that they would not sign any more large deals with these two publishers as that contract is up now for new terms. If Elsevier and Wiley won’t budge, RLUK is prepared to go forward on an article by article subscription. That will be a tremendous risk for the publishers, as they will lose a guaranteed income stream, and as the UK universities continue to feel pressure, that budget line for new articles will feel pressure as well, further reducing the flow to the publishers. Blink!