If I could charge extra for copies, I certainly would.  And you're totally on point about the easy searches having gone the way of the unfeathered dinosaur.

 One area I tend to gripe at the clients about is why abstract everything when you're just going to use the copies anyway?  And actually, with one VERY large client who outsources a lot, I constantly battle because they want full copies but pay no attention to the write-up that accompanies them.  How many searches do any of us have that don't require explanation of some sort when they are beyond a refi search?

I do think this industry is in disrepair, that's for sure.  Gas prices go up, but heaven forbid you should raise your fees.  Eventually, there will be no easy searches left, and it's at that point where we might just be able to do something about search fees.  This industry has gone through massive changes in just the last few years, but I will continue to try to capitalize on those changes myself.  It is a never-ending balancing act, but there will always be a need for the independent abstractor with "boots on the ground", who knows their courthouses, the staff and the tricks of getting around broken chains that only experience in a particular location can supply.

I don't think there's an answer to the copy issue and I can certainly see both sides to this.  The input on this subject has certainly been an education for me, probably because of the ease of the counties I work myself.