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

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."

Comments

Re:Accessibility, anyone?

[kiehlster]

I'd mod you up if I had the points. Seriously though, the guild is discriminating against the blind and developmentally disabled. If they're going to enforce that text-to-speech be illegal, then publishing a book without an audio edition is illegal. We've already got laws enforcing websites be accessible to a degree, so why would e-books be an exception to this?

Re:Right to read?

[Mr. Slippery]

Mod parent up. If you haven't read "The Right to Read" yet, let me repeat that link for you. Go read it. Now.