SECTION 3A. Rules; printing and disposition of copies

Copies of the rules, as provided for in section three, shall be printed at the expense of the commonwealth from such sums as may be appropriated therefor and expended under the direction of the chief justices. There may be included such notes and annotations, if any, as shall be directed by vote of the justices. Copies of general revisions of the rules not otherwise disposed of may be sold to the general public at such price per copy as shall be fixed by vote of the justices, which price may be less than, but shall not exceed, the cost of printing, binding and paper. Copies intended for sale shall be transmitted, under the direction of the chief justice, to the several clerks of the courts and to each clerk of the supreme judicial and the superior court in Suffolk county, and shall be placed on sale by them at the price so fixed. Each such clerk shall in January in each year pay into the state treasury all sums received from the sale of such copies during the preceding year, and shall also in said month report in writing to the chief justice the number of such copies sold during the preceding year and the number remaining on hand at the end thereof.