[Dtb-talk] National Federation of theBlind RespondstoAuthorsGuild Statement on the Amazon Kindle 2

[Greg Kearney]

While I don't think that the Autors Guild intended to imply that the  
talking book program or similar programs are a violation of copyright,  
see: http://www.authorsguild.org/advocacy/articles/e-book-rights-alert-amazons-kindle-2.html

I do think they make several problematic points first they suggest  
that their position is not a challenge to the blind "Others suggest  
that challenging Amazon's use of this software challenges  
accessibility to the visually impaired. It doesn't: Kindle 2 isn't  
designed for such use."

I do not believe that the copyright act requires that only devices  
designed for the use of the blind qualify for the exemption. Of course  
the personal computer can and is used to read such content and it is  
clearly not a device designed for the blind and with the advent of  
built in screen readers even less so today. Would the Authors Guild  
suggest that the blind should not be permitted to access book by means  
of computers?

While the Autors guild states in their web page above that reading  
aloud to your child is not a copyright violation there is another  
question to ask. Is a teacher or librarian reading aloud to children,  
a common practice, illegal? Is that not a public performance? What  
about reading to the elderly in nursing homes, hospitals or churches?

What about Radio Reading Services many of which can now be accessed  
over the internet by both the blind and the sighted? For an example  
see here: https://radiotime.com/WebTuner.aspx?StationId=14044& for  
more see this link: http://radiotime.com/Search.aspx?query=radio%20reading%20service

Are these online services also illegal under copyright, clearly anyone  
can listen there and while they were intended for the blind they are  
delivered online which anyone can use.



Greg Kearney
535 S. Jackson St.
Casper, Wyoming 82601
307-224-4022
gkearney at gmail.com