Comments on: Adobe/OverDrive e-book deals on hold at L.A. Public Library over text-to-speech controversy http://www.teleread.com/drm/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:23:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Steve Jordan http://www.teleread.com/drm/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/comment-page-1/#comment-1147089 Steve Jordan Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:37:26 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/10/14/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/#comment-1147089 <blockquote>TTS really hasn’t been clarified as a right. Some think it is part of the ebook rights, some audio book rights, and some a right by itself. This can only be decided by a major court case, and the TTS right has so little value that no one will bother to take it to court.</blockquote> I can't understand how this hasn't been settled (in the U.S.) long ago. The Americans with Disabilities Act (aka the Rehabilitation Act) clearly mandates providing essential services for people with disabilities, which includes visual disability. TTS clearly falls under this aegis, and in fact is mandatory in almost all government, many public and commercial situations. The sheer number of people who may or may not need it isn't really the issue. If enough people who need TTS contact the Federal government and make the need clear, TTS will be made a mandatory part of any e-texts to be sold in this country.

TTS really hasn’t been clarified as a right. Some think it is part of the ebook rights, some audio book rights, and some a right by itself. This can only be decided by a major court case, and the TTS right has so little value that no one will bother to take it to court.

I can’t understand how this hasn’t been settled (in the U.S.) long ago. The Americans with Disabilities Act (aka the Rehabilitation Act) clearly mandates providing essential services for people with disabilities, which includes visual disability. TTS clearly falls under this aegis, and in fact is mandatory in almost all government, many public and commercial situations.

The sheer number of people who may or may not need it isn’t really the issue. If enough people who need TTS contact the Federal government and make the need clear, TTS will be made a mandatory part of any e-texts to be sold in this country.

]]> By: David Rothman http://www.teleread.com/drm/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/comment-page-1/#comment-1147052 David Rothman Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:39:31 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/10/14/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/#comment-1147052 Thanks, Alan. Apparently it is as described---a technical problem, which affects the desktop ADE. Appreciated the additional details. David Thanks, Alan. Apparently it is as described—a technical problem, which affects the desktop ADE. Appreciated the additional details.

David

]]> By: Alan Wallcraft http://www.teleread.com/drm/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/comment-page-1/#comment-1147051 Alan Wallcraft Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:31:58 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/10/14/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/#comment-1147051 The Hanlin V3 and V5 (also sold under many other names, depending on where you live) now have TTS for ePub and PDF via mobile Adobe Digital Editions. This works even for ebooks with DRM. I don't know if it works for PDFs with TTS rights set to disallowed or not. So far as I know there is no TTS rights flag for Adobe ePub. The Hanlin V3 and V5 (also sold under many other names, depending on where you live) now have TTS for ePub and PDF via mobile Adobe Digital Editions. This works even for ebooks with DRM. I don’t know if it works for PDFs with TTS rights set to disallowed or not. So far as I know there is no TTS rights flag for Adobe ePub.

]]> By: Logan Kennelly http://www.teleread.com/drm/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/comment-page-1/#comment-1146921 Logan Kennelly Wed, 14 Oct 2009 21:12:52 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/10/14/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/#comment-1146921 Marilynn, that is a good summary of the TTS issue: some parties are holding back rights they think they control because of a belief that those rights are worth something, while everyone is stalled because they aren't. In this case, though, that's a tangential issue. The L.A. Public Library concern is one of the accessibility of the Adobe Digital Editions software (read the link repeated in the comments by Jim). Adobe's current software no longer supports features that were present in the old version, but Adobe is working to correct this. Marilynn, that is a good summary of the TTS issue: some parties are holding back rights they think they control because of a belief that those rights are worth something, while everyone is stalled because they aren’t.

In this case, though, that’s a tangential issue. The L.A. Public Library concern is one of the accessibility of the Adobe Digital Editions software (read the link repeated in the comments by Jim). Adobe’s current software no longer supports features that were present in the old version, but Adobe is working to correct this.

]]> By: Marilynn Byerly http://www.teleread.com/drm/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/comment-page-1/#comment-1146913 Marilynn Byerly Wed, 14 Oct 2009 18:46:50 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/10/14/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/#comment-1146913 The real heart of this mess is that publishers have no legal right to allow TTS with their books because they haven't contracted those rights with their authors. In publishing, rights refer to the different types of format sales for a written work. Some of the rights that can be contracted from an author are the right to publish a paperback version, a hardcover version, an ebook version, and an audio version of a work. TTS really hasn't been clarified as a right. Some think it is part of the ebook rights, some audio book rights, and some a right by itself. This can only be decided by a major court case, and the TTS right has so little value that no one will bother to take it to court. The best, but, unfortunately, the most expensive solution, is for publishers to offer a new contract or codicil to the contract of each author for each book for TTS. Again, TTS has so little value as a right that I doubt this will happen. In the case of many of the small publishers, the authors have agreed to allow TTS without it being specified as a right in their contract so the ebook is DRM free. The real heart of this mess is that publishers have no legal right to allow TTS with their books because they haven’t contracted those rights with their authors.

In publishing, rights refer to the different types of format sales for a written work. Some of the rights that can be contracted from an author are the right to publish a paperback version, a hardcover version, an ebook version, and an audio version of a work.

TTS really hasn’t been clarified as a right. Some think it is part of the ebook rights, some audio book rights, and some a right by itself. This can only be decided by a major court case, and the TTS right has so little value that no one will bother to take it to court.

The best, but, unfortunately, the most expensive solution, is for publishers to offer a new contract or codicil to the contract of each author for each book for TTS.

Again, TTS has so little value as a right that I doubt this will happen.

In the case of many of the small publishers, the authors have agreed to allow TTS without it being specified as a right in their contract so the ebook is DRM free.

]]> By: David Rothman http://www.teleread.com/drm/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/comment-page-1/#comment-1146902 David Rothman Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:16:48 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/10/14/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/#comment-1146902 @Jim. Thanks. Our item links to it. Would love to have picked it up earlier this month. David @Jim. Thanks. Our item links to it. Would love to have picked it up earlier this month. David

]]> By: Jim Lester http://www.teleread.com/drm/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/comment-page-1/#comment-1146899 Jim Lester Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:37:35 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/10/14/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/#comment-1146899 Bill's response has been up for a while: http://blogs.adobe.com/billmccoy/2009/10/adobe-ebooks--.html Bill’s response has been up for a while: http://blogs.adobe.com/billmccoy/2009/10/adobe-ebooks–.html

]]> By: David Rothman http://www.teleread.com/drm/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/comment-page-1/#comment-1146898 David Rothman Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:29:02 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/10/14/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/#comment-1146898 Thanks, Richard. If Sony goes after the library market in LA and offers Adobe-DRMed ePub, which is what OverDrive does, then <em>it</em> should be treated just like OD. As for the reader, it's just one device that can use ADE. Desktops, for example, can also run DRMed Adobe---which, let's hope, will soon gain TTS capabilities. Thanks, David Thanks, Richard. If Sony goes after the library market in LA and offers Adobe-DRMed ePub, which is what OverDrive does, then it should be treated just like OD. As for the reader, it’s just one device that can use ADE. Desktops, for example, can also run DRMed Adobe—which, let’s hope, will soon gain TTS capabilities.

Thanks,
David

]]> By: Richard Askenase http://www.teleread.com/drm/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/comment-page-1/#comment-1146896 Richard Askenase Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:20:41 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/10/14/adobeoverdrive-e-book-deals-on-hold-in-at-l-a-public-library-over-text-to-speech-controversy/#comment-1146896 Wait a minute. Sony is publicizing its library compatibility, yet the Sony Reader does NOT have Text to Speech. So why aren't they also pressuring the libraries to discontinue the Sony access until it comes up with TTS (which it won't any time soon)? Wait a minute. Sony is publicizing its library compatibility, yet the Sony Reader does NOT have Text to Speech. So why aren’t they also pressuring the libraries to discontinue the Sony access until it comes up with TTS (which it won’t any time soon)?

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