[nfbcs] National Federation of the Blind Responds to Authors Guild Statement on the Amazon Kindle 2

[Doug Lee]

there are a print book and an audio version of the same book sitting
on a table in a room full of people.

Doug picks up the audio book, dawns a pair of headphones, and starts
reading.  Bob picks up the print book and reads quietly as well.

"Hey," Doug says, "This is cool:" and he pulls out his headphones and
broadcasts a paragraph, making a few people turn their heads and
listen.

"Wow, that's about like this:" says Bob, and proceeds to read another
paragraph aloud, holding the attention of the same audience.

Bob and Doug agree that they want a lot more people to know about
this book, so without regard to copyright law, they set about copying
part of it.  Bob wanders over to the copy machine in the corner and
starts running off print copies of pages 25-50.  He finishes in
about 10 minutes and wanders back to the table, where Doug is still
waiting for an audio copy to complete.  Having started on page 25
after a couple minutes of fiddling with an inter-device audio cable,
his copy has just reached page 26.  "Twenty-four pages to go," he
observes wistfully, as Bob finishes collecting his things and heads
out the door, copies in hand, in search of a good lunch.

Now somebody tell me how an audio book is anything but even more
difficult to use for a copyright violation. :)

On Thu, Feb 12, 2009 at 09:38:09PM -0600, Freeh, Jessica wrote:
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>
> CONTACT:
> Chris Danielsen
> Director of Public Relations
> National Federation of the Blind
> (410) 659-9314, extension 2330
> (410) 262-1281 (Cell)
> <mailto:cdanielsen at nfb.org>cdanielsen at nfb.org
>
> National Federation of the Blind Responds to Authors Guild
> Statement on the Amazon Kindle 2
>
> Baltimore, Maryland (February 12, 2009): The National Federation of the 
> Blind, the largest organization of blind people in the United States, 
> today responded to a statement put out by the Authors Guild advising its 
> members to consider negotiating contracts prohibiting e-books to be read 
> aloud by the new Amazon Kindle 2, which incorporates text-to-speech 
> technology. The Authors Guild argues that the reading of a book out loud 
> by a machine is a copyright infringement unless the copyright holder has 
> specifically granted permission for the book to be read aloud.
>
> Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind,  
> said: "The National Federation of the Blind supports all technologies  
> that allow blind people to have better access to the printed word,  
> including the ability of devices like the Kindle 2 to read commercial  
> e-books aloud using text-to-speech technology. Although the Authors  
> Guild claims that it supports making books accessible to the blind, its 
> position on the inclusion of text-to-speech technology in the Kindle 2 is 
> harmful to blind people. The Authors Guild says that having a book read 
> aloud by a machine in the privacy of one's home or vehicle is a copyright 
> infringement. But blind people routinely use readers, either human or 
> machine, to access books that are not available in alternative formats 
> like Braille or audio. Up until now, no one has argued that this is 
> illegal, but now the Authors Guild says that it is. This is absolutely 
> wrong. The blind and other readers have the right for books to be 
> presented to us in the format that is most useful to us, and we are not 
> violating copyright law as long as we use readers, either human or 
> machine, for private rather than public listening. The key point is that 
> reading aloud in private is the same whether done by a person or a 
> machine, and reading aloud in private is never an infringement of 
> copyright.
>
> "Amazon has taken a step in the right direction by including  
> text-to-speech technology for reading e-books aloud on its new Kindle  
> 2," Dr. Maurer continued. "We note, however, that the device itself  
> cannot be used independently by a blind reader because the controls to 
> download a book and begin reading it aloud are visual and therefore 
> inaccessible to the blind. We urge Amazon to rectify this situation as 
> soon as possible in order to make the Kindle 2 a device that truly can be 
> used both by blind and sighted readers. By doing so, Amazon will make it 
> possible for blind people to purchase a new book and begin reading it 
> immediately, just as sighted people do."
>
>
>
> ###
>
>
>
> About the National Federation of the Blind
>
> With more than 50,000 members, the National Federation of the Blind is 
> the largest and most influential membership organization of blind people 
> in the United States. The NFB improves blind people's lives through 
> advocacy, education, research, technology, and programs encouraging 
> independence and self-confidence. It is the leading force in the 
> blindness field today and the voice of the nation's blind. In January 
> 2004 the NFB opened the National Federation of the Blind Jernigan 
> Institute, the first research and training center in the United States 
> for the blind led by the blind.
>
>
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-- 
Doug Lee                 dgl at dlee.org                http://www.dlee.org
SSB BART Group           doug.lee at ssbbartgroup.com   http://www.ssbbartgroup.com
"It's not easy to be crafty and winsome at the same time, and few accomplish
it after the age of six." --John W. Gardner and Francesca Gardner Reese