BookFinder.com Journal

Authors slam reading aloud ebooks

While I like authors and am occasionally skeptical of ebook readers, the Authors Guild's slam against the Amazon Kindle 2 confuses the heck out of me.

One of the features of the upgraded Kindle is that it can read a book out loud to you, using a canned computerized voice similar to the text to speech systems available on many current computers.

Upon hearing of this, the Authors Guild told the Wall Street Journal "They don't have the right to read a book out loud. That's an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law."

Faced with pushback (including the suggestion that perhaps the Authors Guild would like to ban all reading aloud of books), the Guild retrenched, suggesting that publishers should consider forcing Amazon to add restrictions to books that could block access to the read-aloud feature.

This is absurd. Book owners can buy paperback books, and rebind them into hardcovers; companies like Brodart sell this service to libraries. It's as if the Authors Guild was trying to put Brodart out of business, claiming that rebinding paperbacks would infringe on their exclusive rights to sell hardcover rights.

There's been a lot written about this, but my favorite is Neil Gaiman's take.

"When you buy a book, you're also buying the right to read it aloud, have it read to you by anyone, read it to your children on long car trips, record yourself reading it and send that to your girlfriend etc. This is the same kind of thing, only without the ability to do the voices properly, and no-one's going to confuse it with an audiobook. And that any authors' societies or publishers who are thinking of spending money on fighting a fundamentally pointless legal case would be much better off taking that money and advertising and promoting what audio books are and what's good about them with it."

What part of right of first sale...?

Asante Kahari, an “author of several urban fiction books” is suing Amazon.com and eBay for $500 million for helping sell used copies of his works. He claims that used bookselling is similar to illegal P2P piracy of music; he’s clearly betting that the judge has never heard of the right of first sale. (It’s a good thing nobody’s ever told him about libraries.)

Kahari’s complaint is rather amusing.

(via Techdirt)

Posted by Anirvan

Right of first sale attacked in FL, UT

According to an article in Billboard, new laws passed in Florida and Utah would require used CD stores to comply with an onerous set of policies, effectively restricting the resale of secondhand music:

“In Florida, the new legislation requires all stores buying second-hand merchandise for resale to apply for a permit, would be required to thumb-print CD sellers and get a copy of their state-issued identity documents, such as a driver’s license. Furthermore, stores could only issue store credit — not pay cash — in exchange for traded CDs, and then would be required to hold them for a 30-day period, before re-selling them.”

There’s apparently similar legislation under consideration in Rhode Island.

While these laws are intended to crack down on pawnbrokers, they make a mockery of the American right of first sale, which allows consumers to freely resell purchased copies of copyrighted materials (e.g. books, CDs). I’d be furious if I had to be thumbprinted before selling an old CD to a local music store.

I tracked down the new Utah legislation (H.B. 402). Although the final text of the law exempts booksellers and individuals selling personal property online, it’s not clear to me why those distinctions exist (are used bookstores and used music stores fundamentally different?), and whether the distinctions will remain in similar legislation.

According to the Billboard article, the National Association of Recording Merchandisers (NARM) is working on the issue. The music industry isn’t exactly a friend of consumer rights, but industry groups don’t need to be inherently self-serving or self-protective; for example, we’re proud to be members of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, which presents a united industry voice opposing various forms of censorship, taking sometimes-unpopular stands on behalf of readers’ rights.

Somewhat along the same lines, I’d love to see the emergence of a nonpartisan watchdog group focused on the right of first sale, working to protect consumers’ fundamental right to share, sell, or trade what they own. Companies like eBay and Amazon have made fortunes from the resale of copyrighted works; they should be first in line to protect our rights with their lobbying dollars.

Posted by Anirvan

Public Lending Right

Jessamyn from Librarian.net has been blogging about the Public Lending Right (PLR), a system in which libraries pay authors for the right to loan their books.

Per the PLR International Network, programs now exist in 19 countries, including Canada, the UK, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel.

The American first-sale doctrine, (the right to freely sell or lend copies of copyrighted materials) would seem to ensure that the US doesn’t have to establish a PLR system, unless it voluntarily chooses to, in much the same way that purchasers of used books aren’t legally required to pay authors for the second sale of a book. But the PLR is an interesting idea, particularly insofar as it might help subsidize authors in need. Does it work? (Does anyone have any experience with the PLR, and its workings?)

Per writer Mary Beard, in the UK, 363 authors make between £5000 and £6000 a year via the PLR; the next 20,000+ authors get paid less—as little as £1, in some cases. (Ms. Beard made a grand total of £18.54 this past year.)

PLR International has more on the system. The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions has an interesting statement opposing it.

(Also of possible interest to readers interested in book trade law: the British Net Book Agreement, which restricted the price of new books from 1900 to 1997.)

Posted by Anirvan

On buying used books

I’m always fascinated by the criteria people use to decide how to obtain a book. (Buy or borrow? If buying, then new or used? Locally or online? From chains or indies?)

Scot McKnight, an American Christian author associated with the Emerging church movement, posts about this question on his blog, Jesus Creed. He buys most of his books new, both locally and online, but has no compunctions about buying used online (other than not buying advance reading copies).

His readers offer some interesting commentary:

• buying used is resource-conscious
• one reader buys Christian authors new, non-Christian and anti-Christian authors used
• another experiments with used books, buys books from known authors new
• authors may receive some royalties on remaindered books

They also debate the ethics of proofs and ARCs, suggesting that stamping “not for sale” on a book is counter to the right of first sale and analogous to software DRM, while discussing the role of the collectors’ market.

Read the full discussion…

[Now reading The In-Between World of Vikram Lall by M. G. Vassanji]

Posted by Anirvan

Beyond the "Used Book Conundrum"

Larry Portzline, creator of the bookstore tourism meme, has been blogging from Book Expo America in New York. He recently covered a BEA panel called "Toward Quantifying the Used Book Conundrum." There were panelists from Alibris and Powell's on the used-books-aren't-evil side, and the Author's Guild and InkWell Management disagreeing

Larry's writeup of the panel is worth reading, and includes many interesting points made during the discussion.

The words "Used Book Conundrum" remind me of historical terms like the "Chinese Question" or the "Jewish Question," in the way that the concept is defined as being inherently problematic, so as to confirm the interests and prejudices of relatively powerful or entrenched interests.

American college students, for example, face a very different kind of Used Book Conundrum, a two-part problem caused by the publishing industry. Many textbook publishers update editions very frequently; this is, in part, a way to drive new textbook sales by subverting the potential aftermarket. This is problematic. But it's made much worse by the fact that new textbook prices are also soaring, causing universities, governments, and advocacy groups around the country to take notice.

If there were only the frequent edition changes (without the high prices), most students would be able to buy new copies whenever they came out. If there were only the high prices, but infrequent edition changes, students would be able to justify buying expensive new books, knowing they could sell them in the aftermarket. But when students have both factors working against them, many can't afford to buy new books, and have no aftermarket to turn to for current-edition titles, leading some to either avoid buying books, or to break the law by photocopying texts. This is an absurd situation, caused in part by industry-wide dislike of a potential market for used goods.

The textbook publishing industry's active two-pronged subversion of the market for used copies of their books is as valid a Used Book Conundrum as the one being discussed at BEA.

The publishing industry and groups like the Authors Guild have done a very good job of framing the buying and selling of used books as illegitimate or vaguely immoral, treating it in the same way that the movie and recording industries do peer-to-peer file sharing technologies. Those of us who engage with the used book world (buying used books, selling our old ones, or working in the bookselling industry) have nothing to be ashamed of. Books have been shared, given away, sold, and resold for centuries.

The right to trade goods that one owns is deeply ingrained in virtually all cultures around the world. Your contractor can't stop you from reselling your home. Ford can't stop you from reselling your car. Apple can't stop you from reselling your computer. And the Authors Guild can't stop you from reselling your books.

At BookFinder.com, we focus on helping our users find and buy new and used books. Both are equally important to us. As individual readers, members of the BookFinder.com team enjoy buying new and used books, offline and online; we also make use of city and university library systems. I believe we're broadly representative of our users, in that we bring books into our lives in many ways. I wish that the parties wringing their hands over their so-called "Used Book Conundrum" would work harder to increase the number of readers, rather than opting to slam their customers for choosing to buy or sell used books, in addition to buying new ones.

[Now Reading: American Sucker by David Denby]

Posted by Anirvan

Under attack, publishers praise used books

The American Association of Publishers has been working to justify the high cost of new textbooks. They've been working to make clear to the press that the sale of used books doesn't result in the (deserving) publisher or author getting a cut.

(Of course they don't mention that architects don't get a cut when their buildings are resold, or that Microsoft doesn't get a cut when you resell your boxed copy of Windows XP to a friend.)

It's unsurprising that the AAP may not be a big supporter of the used book trade.

So I was surprised to read AAP President Pat Schroeder's statement to CNN/Money when asked whether the rising cost of books is a factor in declining American reading rates:

Former Colorado Rep. Pat Schroeder, who now heads the AAP, says book price increases didn't cause the reading decline. A book "is very high value," she argues. "It gives hours of pleasure and can be passed on to others." [Source]

It's nice to see that when the American publishing industry is under attack, their trade association is happy to claim that being able to share books (without subsequent readers having to pay a fee to the publisher) is a feature of their products, rather than a legal loophole to be overcome.

BookFinder.com -- helping ensure that good books "can be passed on to others" since 1997.

Posted by Anirvan

Publishers question used books

"Online Battle of Low-Cost Books", an article in yesterday's New York Times, covers the publishing industry's case against used books.

Publishing industry insiders and Authors Guild spokespeople do their best to paint the used book industry as unethical:

"Used books are to consumer books as Napster was to the music industry," she said. "The question becomes, 'How does the book industry address its used-book problem?' There aren't any easy answers, especially as no one is breaking any laws here."

For better or for worse, the right of first sale (the American legal principle that allows the owner of an object to resell it to others) is an enshrined part of the way America (and the rest of the world) works.

Your contractor can't stop you from reselling your home. Ford can't stop you from reselling your car. Apple can't stop you from reselling your computer. And the Authors Guild can't stop you from reselling your books.

Comparing used books to illegal Napster downloads and suggesting that the used book industry is operating based on some legal loophole seems to be part of the larger assault on basic consumer rights that the copyright industries (e.g. movies, music) have been engaging in for the past decade or so.

Posted by Anirvan