The issue of whether the Kindle's text to speech capability is violating copyright laws is a little tricky (but just a little). I tend to agree that the Author's Guild has something to worry about. Even though the Dvice review of the Kindle said that the voice for the reader sounded like an obnoxious robot, we know that technology continues to improve and get better all the time. It won't be long before digital voices will be indistinguishable from the real thing. There is no doubt that the Kindle is the way of the future for anyone that doesn't want to lug a book around, and the fact that you can listen to a book while driving or doing anything else is a super idea. The text to speech feature is what I think will make the Kindle idea take off (at least I'm more interested!). So I can understand their argument. However, it's also true that it's not a real voice, and therefore, isn't quite the same thing as an audio book.
But no matter what the courts decide about whether it's the same thing or not, if Amazon purchased the copy for sale and use by the Kindle, then haven't they already paid what's due? How many times does Amazon have to pay for something before it really becomes theirs to use as they wish? It's like giving a gift then expecting to tell the receiver what they can and can't do with it. The rule there is that once the gift is given, the recipient can do with it as they please. Why is this rule of thumb not true for something you purchase, knowing it's purpose is resale from the get-go? Why should authors get paid for Amazon's good idea that is separate and distinct from the creation of the book? In any case, it doesn't appear that Amazon is worried about losing sales for their Audible division by the creation of the text to speech feature. It seems to me that if there really was a concern about audio books being replaced by Kindle, then Amazon might not have incorporated this feature in the Kindle2. They don't seem to be worried about it.
Maybe the answer is for authors to charge more for their books knowing that once purchased by places like Amazon, the book might be read on a Kindle. Isn't this what the Author's Guild is looking for? But the higher prices get, the less affordable the books become, then everyone loses (especially us, the buyers). In the end, the most reasonable answer is for the Author's Guild to let it go.
Maybe the solution is to make the TTS function a paid add-on to Kindle functionality. The Authors Guild would receive a percentage of the profits from the add-on as reimbursement for the audio rights for having their books read by a robot voice, and the base price of a Kindle would go down for everyone else. I would guess that the amount of Kindle users who would pay for that functionality is merely a tiny percentage of people who would pay for a well-produced audio book.
ReplyDeleteNot being an author, I don't know what people expect to make per kindle book sale. I suppose it may make a difference how popular you are as well. I would still want something in writing about what I get paid for with download to a Kindle with an automated reading device. Lets get rid of any gray areas.
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