Spotted on Slashdot,
Author’s Guild Says Kindle’s Text-To-Speech Software Illegal.
“The Author’s Guild claims that the new Kindle’s text-to-speech software is illegal, stating that “They don’t have the right to read a book out loud,” said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild. “That’s an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law.” Forget for a moment that text-to-speech doesn’t copy an existing work. And forget the odd notion that the artificial enunciation of plain text is equivalent to a person’s nuanced and emotive reading. The Guild’s claim is that even to read out loud is a production akin to an illegal copy, or a public performance.”
why is there such a conflict between accessibility and copyright? It seems to me the lot of accessibility issues are a side effect of copyright protection. Digital rights management, (DRM), as always impeded the flow of accessible information. The Library of Congress has thousands of volumes of text in audio format, but does not release it digitally because of fears of copyright infringement. Publishers are afraid of accessible electronic books in open formats, such as PDF, for the same reason.
The music industry seems ready to abandon DRM. Apple’s iTunes has begun to shift away from DRM. As iTunes is the most important digital music provider, AT&T long for all music is DRM-free. But the publishing industry seems a decade behind the music industry. Audible.com, now owned by Amazon, seems very unlikely to abandon its DRM policy. The Kindle, another Amazon product, as its own proprietary DRM format.
I understand that the audio production of the book becomes a different entity than the physical book because of the performance of the narrators. Having the Kindle read you a book that you already own is no different from having a friend or family member read it out loud. There is no additional contribution from the author or any other party that warns any additional copyright protection.
Let’s hope that the Author’s Guild goes nowhere on this issue.
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Thanks for this post. I ordered a kindle for my wife and was pleased to see the text to speech option for me if I use the kindle. The publishing industry really needs to understand accessibility. I have Stargardt’s and while large print works, for lengthy reading, text to speech is needed. If buy the book what is the difference? I can’t resell it. I could let someone else read a book on our kindle, but how is that different from lending them an actual book?
I could not agree more. Enjoy the Kindle. When it arrives, let me know how you find the text-to-speech.
Tim, thanks for this post. I really find it ridiculous how copywrite seems to limit progress. I hope that this complaint goes nowhere and that the next time the kindel is released that it’s accessible to people with little or no vision.
Building a truly accessible Kindle might need a complete redesign, but there a few easy improvements that could be made: wider font size selection, landscape mode, variable speed text-to-speed playback and inverse color scheme (white font on black). I just don’t know how to get someone at Amazon to listen.