Rules & Resources
Business Publication Support Center

Clarification of Definition and Reporting of Multi-Copy Sales (Formerly "paid bulk" and "group")

In July 2003, final passage was given to modify Rule D 2.1 Multi-Copy Sales addressing the reporting of circulation sold in quantities of two or more.

Multi-Copy Same Addressee - Represents sales to a third-party or when a business purchases for its employees, subsidiaries, or branch offices but does not retain names. The copies are shipped in bulk to the purchaser for redistribution. In this situation, the publisher frequently will not have knowledge or documentation relative to the ultimate recipient.

Example:

Healthy Day Incorporated purchases 5000 copies of The Good Food Business Journal from the publication. Healthy Day Inc. uses copies to pass out at a trade show or other events.

In the example above, the publisher has no information in regards to the end recipient of the magazine.


Sponsored Individually Addressed - Represents sales to a third-party (other than a business for its employees, subsidiaries or branch offices) wherein the copies are individually addressed and mailed to the designated recipients, or in situations where the copies are shipped in bulk to the purchaser, the publisher would need to maintain sufficient documentation which identified the designated recipients by name and title.

Example:

Healthy Day purchases 5000 Copies of The Good Food Business Journal for their customers. Two different scenarios or a combination of both may ensue after the purchase.

1) Healthy Day Inc. provides a mailing list (individual names and addresses) to The Good Food Business Journal. The Good Food Business Journal would then mail a copy of the publication to each individual on that list.
OR
2) The Good Food Business Journal mails all 5000 copies directly to Healthy Day Inc. Healthy Day Inc. then takes the responsibility of redistributing the copies to individuals. Though Healthy Day Inc handles the distribution, they also provide a list of individuals (names and titles) to the publication for the audit.

Please note: The “individuals” in the above examples are NOT employees of Healthy Day Inc., its subsidiaries or branch offices. Healthy Day Inc is attempting to build or continue business relationships by providing the copies (sent to clients, etc.).


Individual Subscriptions (Paragraph 1A, line item 1)

In addition to a publication’s standard individually ordered and paid subscriptions, copies formerly defined as "Group" are also now included as individual subscriptions.

Example:

Healthy Day Inc. purchases 5000 copies of The Good Food Business Journal for all employees, subsidiaries and their branch offices. They provide a list of employees (by name and title) who are receiving the publication.

Regardless of whether the above example was individually addressed to the employee or shipped in bulk to Healthy Day, these copies belong in the category of “Individual” – provided sufficient documentation is submitted to and maintained by the publication. If Healthy Day is NOT able to provide a list of individual recipients (employees), then the circulation must be classified as "Multi-Copy Same Addressee."

All of the above items became effective with the December 2003 Publisher’s Statements.



Posted 12/10/2004