Listen to Hundreds of Free Audiobooks, From Classics to Educational Texts; Smithsonian Magazine, April 6, 2020

Theresa Machemer, Smithsonian Magazine; Listen to Hundreds of Free Audiobooks, From Classics to Educational Texts

"With classrooms closed due to COVID-19, millions of students across the United States are venturing into the realm of distance learning. To support these efforts, Amazon’s audiobook service, Audible, has launched an online collection of hundreds of free audiobooks primed for both education and entertainment.

The website doesn’t require a log-in, sign-up or payment information. To peruse Audible’s selection of novels, poetry and fables—from classics to modern favorites—simply click “Start Listening.”...

The Audible Stories website states, “For as long as schools are closed, we’re open.”

This goal is similar to that of the National Emergency Library, which—controversially—makes more than a million free books available for temporary download. Normally, the archive has about 2.5 million public domain books available for download without constraint. An additional 1.4 million copyrighted books are accessible to one reader at a time for a two-week borrowing period.

The Emergency Library removes that one-at-a-time restriction until the end of June, “or the end of the U.S. national emergency, whichever is later,” according to a statement. Backlash from authors and publishers has since framed the collection as internet piracy that violates intellectual property laws, but the campaign still has its fair share of supporters.

Audible’s offerings come without any of these concerns. So, if you enjoy audiobooks, the Audible Stories platform represents a straightforward option that can be enjoyed in conjunction with audiobook downloads offered by public libraries. Apple Books is also highlighting free book options, joining Audible Stories in a growing repertoire of at-home educational content."

Why ‘Fahrenheit 451’ Is the Book for Our Social Media Age; The New York Times, May 10, 2018

Ramin Bahrani, The New York Times;  

Why ‘Fahrenheit 451’ Is the Book for Our Social Media Age

[Kip Currier: Looking forward to seeing this May 19th-debuting HBO adaptation of Ray Bradbury's ever-timely Fahrenheit 451 cautionary intellectual freedom tale, starring Michael B. Jordan as a book-burning-fireman-turned-book-preserver.]

"Burning books in the film posed a legal challenge. The cover art of most books is protected by copyright, and in most cases we were unable to obtain permission to display it — let alone burn it on camera. So the art directors for my film designed countless original book covers that we could burn."

Ebook entrepreneur Neil Jones takes on the big guys; Guardian, 11/12/09

Katie Allen, Guardian; Ebook entrepreneur Neil Jones takes on the big guys:

"With authors who want to control their own publishing in mind, [Neil Jones] founded Interead and developed the Coolerbooks.com ebook site. He wanted to sell the Sony Reader to accompany the downloads but Sony could not guarantee supply, so he created the Cool-er ereader instead. After a few months in the market, worldwide sales of the Cool-er (which costs £189 in the UK) have soared...

He is confident that his brightly coloured devices, which have been called the iPods of the ebook world, will be number two in America by next autumn in terms of sales, and number one in the UK.

As he takes on the likes of Sony and Amazon – whose Kindle reader launched internationally in October – Jones has been looking into research on David and Goliath battles throughout history. He thinks the odds for the small guy are pretty good. Outside the battlefield, he cites the business example of Virgin Atlantic, currently celebrating its 25th year. "Twenty-five years ago, who would have given Virgin Atlantic any chance against the likes of British Airways?"...

Interead's ebook site recently became the first ebookstore outside the US to offer 500,000 of the public domain books (books that have fallen out of copyright) available from Google Books.

Jones says Interead's latest example of thinking differently is the US retail launch of its reader on the QVC shopping channel. "We know the majority of our market is women – women read more," he says."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/nov/12/small-business-ereaders-neil-jones-profile

Shakespeare in seconds: Instant book machine gets Google Books access; LA Times, 9/17/09

Carolyn Kellogg, LA Times; Shakespeare in seconds: Instant book machine gets Google Books access:

"Today OnDemandBooks, the makers of the Espresso Book Machine, announced a deal with Google Book Search for access to the more than 2 million public domain books in Google's digital files. If you've got access to an Espresso, Shakespeare's "As You Like It" can be yours in less than five minutes and for about $8...

With an Espresso, the books are first sold, then printed, inverting the standard publishing industry business model...

One place where you can find an Espresso is the Bibliotheca Alexandria in Egypt, which, in reinventing the old Library of Alexandria, is tying a very old shared intellectual tradition to this very new one."

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2009/09/shakespeare-in-seconds-instant-book-machine-gets-google-books-access.html

The Sincerest Form of Lawsuit Bait; New York Times, 8/16/09

Charles McGrath via New York Times; The Sincerest Form of Lawsuit Bait:

"But Mr. Colting’s book has nevertheless become a literary cause célèbre, with a number of legal experts, including one from The New York Times, seeking to overturn the judge’s decision. The argument is that the Colting text is “transformative”: that instead of being a mere rip-off, it adds something original and substantive to Mr. Salinger’s version. This is the same principle Alice Randall appealed to in 2001 when she fought the estate of Margaret Mitchell over her right to publish “The Wind Done Gone,” her parody of “Gone With the Wind,” told from the point of view of Scarlett’s half-sister, a slave. The case was eventually settled when Ms. Randall’s publisher agreed to make a donation to Morehouse College, in Ms. Mitchell’s hometown, Atlanta.

Something similar happened with “Lo’s Diary,” by Pia Pera, which retells Vladimir Nabokov’s “Lolita” from Lo’s point of view and argues, incidentally, that Humbert did not kill Quilty. Dmitri Nabokov, the author’s son and a zealous protector of his father’s legacy, initially objected but then came around for a percentage of the royalties, which he donated to PEN, the writers’ group...

Luckily, “Jane Eyre” was in the public domain, as was “Hamlet” when John Updike wrote “Gertrude and Claudius,” a prequel that re-imagines the “Hamlet story” from the point of view of the guilty couple and explains at last why Gertrude and Claudius got together in the first place: he was master of some sweaty sexual techniques apparently unknown to his brother.

Books that are still in copyright are a more complicated challenge for the would-be writer of prequels and sequels. This is partly because a lot of money is sometimes at stake. The Mitchell estate was so fussy about protecting “Gone With the Wind” because the franchise is a gold mine. Alexandra Ripley’s “Scarlett,” an authorized sequel, was a huge best seller in 1991, even though the critics sniffed at it. Living authors, moreover, are understandably attached to their characters and creations and may not want to think of them as demented, say, or having problems with bladder control. Where do you draw the line between critique or parody and outright exploitation?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/weekinreview/16mcgrath.html?_r=1&scp=4&sq=jane%20austen&st=cse

Legal advocates push for Google Books privacy; CNet News, 7/23/09

Elinor Mills via CNet News; Legal advocates push for Google Books privacy:

"Google should promise to protect the privacy of consumers with its Book Search service, the ACLU, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Samuelson Law Technology & Public Policy Clinic at UC Berkeley Law said in a letter to the search giant on Thursday.

"Under its current design, Google Book Search keeps track of what books readers search for and browse, what books they read, and even what they 'write' down in the margins," the groups wrote in a letter (PDF) to Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt.

"Given the long and troubling history of government and third-party efforts to compel libraries and booksellers to turn over records about readers, it is essential that Google Books incorporate strong privacy protections in both the architecture and policies of Google Book Search," the letter said. "Without these, Google Books could become a one-stop shop for government and civil-litigant fishing expeditions into the private lives of Americans.""

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10294519-93.html

Barnes & Noble Plans an Extensive E-Bookstore; New York Times, 7/21/09

Motoko Rich via New York Times; Barnes & Noble Plans an Extensive E-Bookstore:

"In an announcement on Monday, Barnes & Noble said that it would offer more than 700,000 books that could be read on a wide range of devices, including Apple’s iPhone, the BlackBerry and various laptop or desktop computers. When Barnes & Noble acquired Fictionwise in March, that online retailer had about 60,000 books in its catalog.

More than 500,000 of the books now offered electronically on BN.com can be downloaded free, through an agreement with Google to provide electronic versions of public domain books that Google has scanned from university libraries. Sony announced a similar deal in March to offer the public domain books on its Reader device.

Barnes & Noble is promoting its e-bookstore as the world’s largest, an implicit stab at Amazon.com, which offers about 330,000 for its Kindle device. Currently, Google’s public domain books cannot be read on a Kindle."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/21/technology/internet/21book.html?_r=1&hpw

As US government closes in, Google eyes revenue streams for Book Search; Christian Science Monitor, 6/18/09

Matthew Shaer via Christian Science Monitor; As US government closes in, Google eyes revenue streams for Book Search:

"Earlier today, Google unveiled a new version of its controversial Book Search tool, even as the US government continued its investigation into a deal reached last October between publishers and the Mountain View, Calif.-based tech company. The updated Book Search includes a swath of new features intended to mirror the way we read dead-tree books, from an expanded table of contents to a page-turn button, with accompanying animation...

Book Search currently makes available only public-domain books, or the titles that Google has negotiated the rights to publish. Still, the improvements to the tool will likely help “position Google Books as the library/book store of choice going forward,” David Weir notes over at BNET. There are “multiple potential revenue streams available — advertising, affiliate marketing, keyword search, direct sales, licensing fees, subscription fees, e-reader device sales, and on and on,” he wrote."

http://features.csmonitor.com/innovation/2009/06/18/as-us-government-closes-in-google-eyes-revenue-streams-for-book-search/

Preparing to Sell E-Books, Google Takes on Amazon; New York Times, 6/1/09

Motoko Rich via New York Times; Preparing to Sell E-Books, Google Takes on Amazon:

"In discussions with publishers at the annual BookExpo convention in New York over the weekend, Google signaled its intent to introduce a program by [sic] that would enable publishers to sell digital versions of their newest books direct to consumers through Google. The move would pit Google against Amazon.com, which is seeking to control the e-book market with the versions it sells for its Kindle reading device.

Google’s move is likely to be welcomed by publishers who have expressed concerns about Amazon’s aggressive pricing strategy for e-books. Amazon offers Kindle editions of most new best sellers for $9.99, far less than the typical $26 at which publishers sell new hardcovers. In early discussions, Google has said it will allow publishers to set consumer prices."...

Google’s e-book retail program would be separate from the company’s settlement with authors and publishers over its book-scanning project, under which Google has scanned more than seven million volumes from several university libraries. A majority of those books are out of print.
The settlement, which is the focus of a Justice Department inquiry about the antitrust implications and is also subject to court review, provides for a way for Google to sell digital access to the scanned volumes.

And Google has already made its 1.5 million public-domain books available for reading on mobile phones as well as the Sony Reader, the Kindle’s largest competitor.

Under the new program, publishers give Google digital files of new and other in-print books. Already on Google, users can search up to about 20 percent of the content of those books and can follow links from Google to online retailers like Amazon.com and the Web site of Barnes & Noble to buy either paper or electronic versions of the books. But Google is now proposing to allow users to buy those digital editions direct from Google."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/technology/internet/01google.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=google%20books&st=cse