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Actually it's highly usual. Lots of things are like this, e.g. UPC numbers for barcodes, D&B / D-U-N-S numbers, CUSIPs. The government doesn't require books to have ISBNs, so why should issuing them be the government's problem? There's nothing to stop you from setting up your own, alternative book numbering system that nobody cares about if you think you can do a better job.
As a counterpoint, every Canadian gets 10 free ISBNs they can use. If they use those up (I’m close) they can buy more cheaply. This is what a society looks like that isn’t run for the purpose of maximizing profit of companies.
As a counterpoint, every Canadian gets 10 free ISBNs they can use. If they use those up (I’m close) they can buy more cheaply. This is what a society looks like that isn’t run for the purpose of maximizing profit of companies.
Sounds pretty scary. Next you'll tell me you can get semiglutide medications to lose weight cheaply, helping people to be healthier. Feels like anarchy.
ISBNs are not legally required by the government, any more than a book is required to have a title. They are a convenience for getting a book out there in retail channels and have it be identifiable, trackable, etc.
Any other person or group is free to invent a new system and get everyone in the book industry to adopt it alongside or as a replacement for ISBNs.
The U.S. government is not making you get an ISBN for your book. Many books are published without one. But neither did the U.S. government step up in 1970 and offer to be the issuer, unlike in many other countries like India and Canada. So the U.S. is in the minority of countries where a for-profit company ended up getting the right to be the issuer for that country. Considering that the vast majority of books in the U.S. are published by huge for-profit publishers, it doesn't seem that bad to have them pay the issuer $30 for a ISBN if they want the convenience. It's a free country, so they are free to eschew the ISBN as well.
I guess if you feel so strongly about it, you can lobby Congress to buy out R.R. Bowker, make the Librarian of Congress the registrar offering ISBNs for free, so they can add to the so-called Deep State!
> Why isn’t ISBN funded and run by a government agency, like the U.S. Trademark Office?
ISBN is used globally, why should a US agency control it? Especially when it's not even originates from the USA?