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Author's Guild Says Kindle's Text-To-Speech Software Illegal

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the you-gotta-be-kidding-me dept.

Mike writes "The Author's Guild claims that the new Kindle's text-to-speech software is illegal, stating that 'They don't have the right to read a book out loud,' said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild. 'That's an audio right, which is derivative under copyright law.' Forget for a moment that text-to-speech doesn't copy an existing work. And forget the odd notion that the artificial enunciation of plain text is equivalent to a person's nuanced and emotive reading. The Guild's claim is that even to read out loud is a production akin to an illegal copy, or a public performance."

5 of 683 comments (clear)

  1. No more bed time stories for my daughter? by tsalmark · · Score: 5, Funny

    Shes going to be pissed.

    1. Re:No more bed time stories for my daughter? by DontBlameCanada · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Come inside," said the bird to mouse. "I'll show you what's inside Paul Aiken's house."

      A Rolex, a Ferrari, a Ming dynasty spittoon. A lawyer, not an author, but a certified Loon.

  2. News just in... by Fzz · · Score: 5, Funny
    The Authors Guild today filed suit under the DMCA against the New York Public Library for allowing readers to shine light onto the pages of books. "The electric lights in the public reading room permit the words printed on the page to be copied onto the retina of the library's readers", said Paul Aiken, executive director of the Authors Guild. "We equipped all our books with covers as a way to prevent just this sort of illegal copying. The electric lights are a way to circumvent our copy protection mechanism and therefore are illegal under the DMCA."

    Rumor has it that if they are successful, the Authors Guild will next file suit against God for providing a source of light outside in daytime.

  3. Re:To hell with them! by Lost+Engineer · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm not sure anyone would want exclusive rights to the derivative work I make based on a burrito.

  4. Re:To hell with them! by Verdatum · · Score: 5, Funny

    I have read it. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of reading it aloud, so now I have to go to court.