tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582274004296638852.post1498429900600815784..comments2023-12-30T09:35:40.561-07:00Comments on Chiseled in Rock: Books for the Blind: Enabled Access RightsChiseled in Rockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02545077591839974850noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582274004296638852.post-82246502150454192972013-03-28T08:35:34.191-06:002013-03-28T08:35:34.191-06:00I spent years directing a center for disability se...I spent years directing a center for disability services at a state college. We often reproduced books in a text-to-speech format for accessibility for students with disabilities, including visual impairments but also those with dyslexia or other print disabilities. Any book we reproduced we required the student to purchase to protect copyrights. Ironically, this meant we forced students to spend money on book completely inaccessible to them to appease copyright laws. <br /><br />I keep hoping some day e-readers, and the appropriate rights, will make audio formats more accessible. What some folks have to do to enjoy the reading I take for granted is enormous. The cost of brailling a book is exorbitant. <br /><br />Here's to getting our books out to all readers, and not so much concern for the small percentage of profits this may be costing the author. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00741349796538313075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582274004296638852.post-59810928914248519292013-03-28T07:31:44.951-06:002013-03-28T07:31:44.951-06:00For nearly 15 years I worked with the National Cen...For nearly 15 years I worked with the National Center on Severe and Sensory Disabilities. These enabled access clauses are important to protect the author's right to collect any royalties that the publisher might garner. <br /><br />It's worthy of note that any person with blindess or other visual impairment has a statutory right in Title 17 to make a copy of any work in a format that is accessible to them. <br /><br />Title 17 section 121 (the Chaffee Amendment) says:<br /><br />"(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 106, it is not an infringement of copyright for an authorized entity to reproduce or to distribute copies or phonorecords of a previously published, nondramatic literary work if such copies or phonorecords are reproduced or distributed in specialized formats exclusively for use by blind or other persons with disabilities."<br /><br />The tricky bit here is that many of these specialized formats are actually quite accessible to persons without disabilities. The Daisy NISO formats for books enable a collection of specialized access modes including audio, cued audio, audio and text, natural voice, and text-to-speech formats. You don't need to be a person with a disability to access them but the number of people who abuse this is so small that it disappears in rounding error. <br /><br />The definition of "low incidence disability" (blindness is one of them) is a condition that occurs in less than 1/4 of 1 percent of the population. It's a very small population with very great need. These enabled rights clauses help publishers do the right thing by publishing works in these critical formats.<br /><br />It's also worthy of note that around the Center we used to refer to people with vision as "temporarily sighted." As I get older, I find that I'm gaining personal knowledge of this phenomenon. Knowing that - should things get sustantially worse - I will still be able to read is a great comfort. <br /><br />Make sure your rights are protected, but please don't pull the plug on an otherwise acceptable contract because of this. It's not going to cost you anything, it might generate some small revenue, and it will mean the world to those people who are able to read your books. Nathan Lowellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09485325283120491298noreply@blogger.com