Kindle Dwindle: Text-to-Speech Feature Now “Opt-In” After Outcry From Copyright Owners
Since when is reading aloud a copyright violation? Have the thousands of PSAs encouraging us to read to our children actually been solicitations to commit the crime of copyright infringement? Should we brace ourselves to see federal agents swarming the “Reading Rainbow” book van?
That must be the case, if we’re to believe publishers who claim that the Kindle 2’s text-to-speech feature infringes copyright owners’ exclusive right to create derivative works (audio books).
Beg pardon? If my GPS’s “voice” is any indication, this thing won’t be any substitute for the audio book!
I can barely understand the thing when it tries to read street names, so I stick to “Turn Left” and “Turn Right.”There’s a reason people shell out cash to have celebrity voices give directions from their GPS. Shouldn’t that fact tip off publishers to the fact that celebrity voices will always sell audio books? I can’t see the Kindle 2 reducing sales of Thomas the Tank Engine on CD, guys, so let’s all take a step back to reassess!
Amazon says the text-to-speech feature is perfectly legal, but nonetheless folded like a rickety card table when copyright holders objected to the Kindle’s text-to-speech feature. Litigation is costly, after all, even when one is ultimately victorious, and tweaking the noses of publishers is unwise for a book vendor.
Still, Amazon isn’t exactly a little Mom and Pop bookstore, and I’d have hoped to see them stand up for their customers, who by all accounts want this feature.
For now, Amazon’s made the feature “opt-in,” which means publishers will specify which books customers will be able to hear using the Kindle 2’s text-to-speech capability.
Because it won’t be at all annoying for me to try and figure out which of my purchases I can listen to during my commute, and which will have to wait until I can devote my undivided attention to reading. From “Kindle” to “kindling,” I guess.