Amazon Kindle Text-to-Speech: Will it Be Allowed on What You’re Reading?

Not long ago, I wrote about Amazon’s Kindle 2 with its Text-to-Speech feature. The option lends an electronically voice to downloaded books on the Kindle device.

This is no substitute for audiobook narration, but some publishers are crying foul, saying that this violates copyrights and will affect audiobook sales.

Raising Questions

The Author’s Guild has raised the question as to whether Amazon has the right to provide a voice, electronic or otherwise, to a copyrighted written book. This issue was raised even before the Kindle 2 was released and it continues to generate interest. The bottom line question is whether this feature violates the rights to the audiobook and will it ultimately affect audio sales?

No Easy Answers

Kindle 2’s technology is new and revolutionary. As such, it is open for interpretation. Copyright owners have the right to prepare derivative works. Whether the electronic reading can be defined as a derivative work is unclear. The voice is a streaming product, so it may not be subject to copyright laws.

Amazon claims that “Kindle 2′s experimental text-to-speech feature is legal. No copy is made, no derivative work is created, and no performance is being given.” They have compared it to a book simply being read aloud.

The Real Question

Flags were raised and lawsuits were threatened. Ultimately, the bottom line issue is whether the Kindle 2 speech feature will decrease sales of audiobooks.

The Answer

Even though Amazon does not believe that they are in violation of copyright law, they decided to give control of the feature to the copyright owners. This means that some of the titles you purchase for your Kindle may not have the speech feature enabled.

In May, Random House Publishers began to disable the features on several works of bestselling authors.

This means that not only will new downloads be unable to access the feature, but existing purchased downloads will have the feature disabled.

Opinion

In my opinion as a reader, it doesn’t really matter whether Amazon continues to offer the Text-to-Speech. Its electronic voice was no substitute for a professionally recorded audiobook. A big part of the enjoyment that I derive from listening to a book is the performance of the voice artist. If I want to listen to a book, I will not be using a Kindle to do so. (I know, I can’t afford one anyway, but you get the idea.) Amazon Kindle

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