From what I am getting from all the posts under this topic, I think what we are saying is that you are looking at this issue the wrong way.  You stated that copies are this much now.  Well they aren't - you have the opportunity, like the rest of us, to go to the county, wait for a machine and pay a lesser charge in copies.  The copy fee they are charging you is in lieu of the prior rental rate of your machine - to access whenever you want and as fast as you want.  You have the choice of whether or not to use it at that fee - before it was worth it for your company to pay the fee for this service - it might not be the right choice now - but the choice is yours.

I might add, that many county clerks don't really know what we do every day and what we spend in dollars every day per customer.  I am actually beginning to think lately they are more clueless than ever.  1) Have you approached the county clerk and talked with her about what it is actually costing you over and above the other machines to do your work?  2) Have you told the county clerk that you want to be able to buy the images for the same cost of another title company - First American? 

And, I am sorry that people have emailed you and told you that you don't belong on here.  Anyone that has anything to do with the title industry has a right to be on here and I am sure that is Robert's stance on that. 

One thing I talked with another abstractor about is some kind of article or post that was placed on SOT about First American and what a county clerk said - they gave them a deal because of the volume of work they give the county.  Hello, am I missing something here.  They are not giving the county work.  The people in the county buying and selling their homes and taking care of their daily business are the people giving the county money and business.  It is through these transactions, that the county is receiving filings, etc from First American.  I think the individual people of the county would be outraged to think that the county thinks their records, their transactions, and their money collected at closings to pay for all these things were being given credit to the customer being First American.  First American, like any other title company, is the middle man - the company inbetween the individuals and the counties that organize real estate transfers, nothing less and nothing more.  Perhaps all of us abstractors should join together and say this is how much business we bring you in this county, and we also want all the benefits, etc that First American receives.  Actually, don't bet that I will not be approaching not only county clerks but also judges, etc. about the indiscretions of the handling of purchases of copies, etc. and who gets discounts and who doesn't and their reasoning on it.  It will eventually come to a head, as all things that get out of control in this country do - I truly believe it is just in a matter of time - and the clock is currently ticking.