[Dtb-talk] NLS and copyright

[Grover Zinn]

As you will read in another post, I have no objections to copyright  
law or downloading restrictions.  Copyright law is what makes  
publishing books, etc. possible!

However, as you make clear, the international situation is a total  
mess---esp. for you folks outside the US.  And perhaps I'm blurring  
lines between DAISY books for the blind, et al, and the text-to-speech  
use of ebooks.  But the issue is there.

I've always been curious (and could, but haven't , investigated to  
find the answer; maybe someone on the list knows): how many of the NLS  
books are simply the NLS version of a commercial "audio book"?

 From an earlier post, it is interesting that you can copy a cassette  
to digital so rapidly!  Tech marches onward.

best

gz


Grover Zinn
William H. Danforth Professor of Religion, emeritus
former Associate Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Oberlin College
Oberlin, OH 44074
grover.zinn at oberlin.edu



On Dec 12, 2009, at 11:15 PM, Greg Kearney wrote:

> I should make it clear that I have no objection to copyright law or  
> to following such. The copyright act is what makes it possible to  
> offer these kinds of services. I do think that the NLS has over  
> interpreted what was required under the act but that is their  
> decision I guess.
>
> Where this has an unintended  impact is in international  
> cooperation. DAISY was meant to be a world wide standard such that  
> books produced in one location could be used by people world wide  
> without having to alter formats to do so.
>
> We all have restrictions on our users which is universal in the  
> special libraries world. Even here in Western Australia where we  
> have perhaps the most liberal policy of giving the public access to  
> our public domain collections we still require proof of disability  
> before we are able to loan copyrighted works.
>
> International users require the non-DRM versions of NLS books  
> because at this point in time it is not even possible for libraries  
> serving the blind to buy a NLS player from Plextor which makes them.  
> I know as we are trying to buy some of those players without any  
> luck so far.
>
>
> Gregory Kearney
> Manager - Accessible Media
> Association for the Blind of Western Australia
> 61 Kitchener Avenue, PO Box 101
> Victoria Park 6979, WA Australia
>
> Telephone: +61 (08) 9311 8202
> Telephone: +1 (307) 224-4022 (North America)
> Fax: +61 (08) 9361 8696
> Toll free: 1800 658 388 (Australia only)
> Email: gkearney at gmail.com
>
> On 13/12/2009, at 11:50 AM, Kurt Edwin Yount wrote:
>
>> It should be noted that without the copyright that NLS used none of  
>> these
>> books that we remember would have been recorded because as the  
>> program
>> was originallly imagined it was only meant for the blind, although  
>> it ran
>> the gambit from 33/1/3 to cassettes.  If you remember those days  
>> when it
>> said solely for the use of the blind it was always like that.  I
>> understand how people outside the US would not want DRM protection,  
>> but I
>> also understand that it is an extremely valuable resource for those  
>> who
>> for years had little to read except braille.  I still treasure it,  
>> even
>> as I am sad that others outside the US cannot have access.   
>> Remember also
>> that RNIB in England and I forget the one in Canada, CNIB I think  
>> also
>> had restriction on borrowing previliges and still do.  Kurt
>>
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