Reid My Mind

I received the below email from the Author’s Guild in response to the Reading Rights Coalition protest held yesterday in NYC.

Based on their statement it  still appears that the definition of audio rights will have to first be agreed upon. As someone who has been reading both books using TTS and audio narration, I have to say there is no comparison. TTS is simply the communication medium available to those of us who are considered print impaired. Audio narrated books on the other hand  are performances of the author’s work.

The guild seems to be very eager to renegotiate contracts. They accuse Amazon of taking advantage of author’s audio rights in order to take a position in the E-Book market, but it seems the Guild is using this to force renegotiations.

I understand the guild’s focus is the welfare of their writer’s and Amazon is a business out to make money, but damn folks, all we want is equal access to books!

Something is wrong with this picture!

Author’s Guild response – April 7, 2009:

Dear Mr. Reid,

Thank you for your phone call today.  We issued the following statement today in response to the protest:

Authors want everyone to read their books.  That’s why the Authors Guild, and authors generally, are strong advocates for making all books, including e-books, accessible to everyone.  This is not a new
position for us.  For decades, we’ve informed new authors that the expected and proper thing to do is to donate rights so that their works
can be  accessible to the blind and others.  In October, we were praised by the National Federation of the Blind for the settlement of our lawsuit against Google, which promises "to revolutionize blind
people’s access to books," according to the Federation’s press release.

E-books do not come bundled with audio rights.  So we proposed to the Federation several weeks ago the only lawful and speedy path to make e-books accessible to the print disabled on Amazon’s Kindle:

1. The first step is to take advantage of a special exception to the Copyright Act known as the Chafee Amendment, which permits the blind and others with certified physical print disabilities access to special versions, including audio versions, of copyrighted books.  Technology makes this step easy:  certified users of existing Kindles could activate their devices online to enable access to voice-output versions of all e-books.  This process could be ready to go within weeks.

2. Since step one would help only those with sufficient eyesight to navigate the current Kindle, we encourage Amazon or another e-book
device manufacturer to make an e-book device with voice output capability that would be truly blind-accessible, with a Braille
keyboard and audible menu commands.

3. Finally, we need to amend existing book contracts to allow voice-output access to others, including those with learning
disabilities, that don’t qualify for special treatment under the Chafee Amendment.  There’s no getting around the need to amend contracts:  for the past 16 years, standard publishing contracts with most major trade
publishers do not permit publishers to sell e-books bundled with audio rights.  Fortunately, publishing contracts are amendable, and can (once terms have been negotiated) be handled in a systematic fashion.

The Authors Guild will gladly be a forceful advocate for amending contracts to provide access to voice-output technology to everyone.  We will not, however, surrender our members’ economic rights to Amazon or anyone else.  The leap to digital has been brutal for print media generally, and the economics of the transition from print to e-books do not look as promising as many assume.  Authors can’t afford to start this transition to digital by abandoning rights.  Knowing how difficult the road ahead is for the already fragile economics of authorship, we are particularly troubled at how all this arose, with Amazon attempting to use authors’ audio rights to lengthen its lead in the fledgling e-book industry.  We could not allow this rights grab to happen.  Audio books are a billion dollar market, the rights for which are packaged separately from — and are far more valuable than — e-book rights.

That said, our support for access by all disabled readers is steadfast, and we know how to make it happen.  The Federation rightly heralded the settlement in Authors Guild v. Google.  That class-action settlement represents a quantum leap in accessibility to books for the disabled. It will, if approved, make far more books than ever before, potentially tens of millions of out-of-print books, accessible to not only the blind, but to people with any type of print disability.

Through the Google settlement, we have a solution for out-of-print book accessibility.  We’re confident we can arrive at a solution for in-print books as well. 

Today’s protest is unfortunate and unnecessary.  We stand by our offer, first made to the Federation’s lawyer a month ago and repeated several times since, to negotiate in good faith to reach a solution for making in-print e-books accessible to everyone.  We extend that same offer to
any group representing the disabled.

—————

Feel free to contact the office if you have any questions or would like
further information.

The Authors Guild
31 East 32nd St., 7th Floor
New York, NY 10016
212-563-5904; fax: 212-564-5363

This was one of the slogans chanted during Tuesday’s protest  organized by the Reading Rights Coalition. The demonstration, held  outside of the NYC office of The Author’s Guild, seemed to be well attended both in person and virtually.

Thanks to Mika Pyykhala and John Oliveira of the Association of Blind Citizens for streaming the event.

The program consisted of representatives from the various RRC participating organizations. Each showing their support for the right to equal access to books.

Those of us who were listening to the stream were asked to call the Author’s Guild @ (212) 563-5904 to urge them to reverse their position. When I called, I was told that the guild would release a statement later today. The receptionist took my email and said I would be included on the distribution.  

So Close but yet So Far!

Today’s protest was a great example of the power that comes with technology. Two individuals using a net book, microphone, broadband card and software were able to independently stream  the event and provide those of us unable to attend with the instant information we were seeking.

The Kindle, once made navigable, has the TTS built in that will potentially provide access to over 250,000 books.  Technology can provide access.

Ironically, it appears that the technology hurdle is about to be cleared, and now The Author’s Guild creates an artificial barrier in the form of content restrictions.

Access to information has increased within the five years I have been aware of the issue. However, it has mainly come via specialty products not  generally available or applicable to the mainstream. The Victor Reader Stream, while a great product is unknown  and unavailable in general electronic stores or web sites. This small market segment tends to be the main reason given by Access Technology product manufacturer’s for their comparatively expensive price tag.

A fully accessible Kindle with built in TTS available for any book purchased  at the one price, well, that is a game changer.

We are so close!

While the number of signatures on the petition are increasing, I think we should be over ten thousand already. The two blind consumer organizations combined is an estimated 75 thousand individuals, each with at least one family member or friend, acquaintance, neighbor…

If you are reading this blog chances are you support this issue – c’mon peeps, sign the petition and play a part in change.

Holla back via the comments after signing the petition.

I just signed the petition started by the  Reading Rights Coalition.

This organization began after Amazon released their latest version of their E-Book reader, the Kindle 2.0. The product which has built in Text to Speech has been attacked by the Author’s Guild. The Guild argues that this feature which uses synthetic speech to read the contents of a book,violates copyright laws. The Author’s Guild contends that the use of  speech makes this an audio book which would require additional licensing fees.

A coalition of organizations including both Blind Consumer groups has  been established to reverse the decision made by Amazon, after pressure from the  Author’s Guild, making the TTS feature an option controlled by the book Publisher. The Kindle 2.0, with additional accessibility features, would enable people who are blind as well as others with various print disabilities, to have immediate access  to print materials. Amazon recently reported that they are working to make the Kindle accessible. It’s wrong that  the Author’s Guild and what seems to be their desire for more money, would restrict those of us who want access to printed materials.

A mainstream product with built in accessibility features would be a major step that other consumer electronic companies can emulate. Universal design, access for all – that’s a beautiful concept!

Consider signing the petition to show your support. The Reading Rights Coalition is looking for 10,000 signatures.

Allow Everyone Access to E-books – The Petition Site

Reading Rights Coalition Plans Protest in NYC

For the past few months I have been taking courses from The Hadley School for the Blind. If you’re not familiar with Hadley, it’s a free distance learning school for people who are visually impaired and blind. Their mission:

To promote independent living through lifelong, distance education programs for people who are blind or visually impaired, their families and blindness service providers.

I am finishing up with my second course, Braille Literacy 2 which completes the full Braille alphabet. The methodology used by Hadley gives the student significant practice which is highly required in order to become proficient. Braille Literacy 1, introduces the student to using tactile reading. Various techniques are taught enabling the student to remain oriented to the line being read. Students are encouraged to set their own pace, making the  learning process less stressful.

I am very happy to report that I am now going label crazy. Not only labeling file folders, but items throughout the house. I can now do away with non Braille tactile methods that I was forced to remember translations. For example, pins with 1 Braille dot translated to the color black, two for white. I would place these pins on my socks. While this method works fine for simple items, it sure does feel good being able to open my file drawer and quickly find a specific folder.

I am not where I want to be just yet with my Braille proficiency, but thanks to Hadley and my extremely supportive instructor, Betsy, I am on my way.

For those who are visually impaired or blind and have not checked out Hadley, do yourself a favor and pay them a visit.