[access-uk] Ethics of book sharing services
- From: "Andrew Hodgson" <andrew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2005 17:53:49 +0100
Hi all,
Ok, recent discussion has prompted me to post these questions which I
wouldn't have necessairly posted, but had thought about when hearing of
Bookshare et al.
With Bookshare, you pay a flat fee each year to subscribe to the
service, which according to interviews with representatives from
Bookshare etc, they describe it as like a Napster service, but the books
are all on the Bookshare servers.
However, with this set-up, does the original author of the
book/publisher etc get anything back? How do the publishers let these
books go onto the site, being that they may not see any of the money?
Furthermore, baring in mind book sales etc, when we download a book from
Bookshare or another similar service, this does not go to the tally of
the author, and so the books we read aren't added to the sales figures.
Yes, this last bit is a bit weak, because sighted people pass books
around etc. However, I am just wondering what actually happens?
Discuss.
Andrew.
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