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all your books are belong to us
http://www.x404.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=15683		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  bobbdobbs [ Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:14 pm ]
Post subject:  all your books are belong to us
clicky

Quote:
Budding authors attracted to Apple's latest content-creating tool should tread with care lest the small print locks them in tighter than they'd imagined.

The End User Licence Agreement, to which users consent by using the software, requires the output of iBooks Author be distributed only through Apple's retail operation - with Cupertino getting its customary 30 per cent cut - to ensure that only Apple students get the benefit of Apple's largess.

The restriction is displayed when users run iBook Author, but only at the end of the e-book design process. At which point one might be prompted to go back and read the EULA - which wasn't displayed during the installation of the program:

If you charge a fee for any book or other work you generate using this software ... you may only sell or distribute such Work through Apple (e.g., through the iBookstore) and such distribution will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple.
Author:  steve74 [ Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: all your books are belong to us
So, you want Apple to supply you with free software to enable you to create eBooks, then allow you to distribute that in whatever channel you want? Sorry, but that just ain't going to happen, Apple are in this to make money - like pretty much all distributors!
:roll:

I'm not saying this is right, but that's the way it is - why should they develop free software to do themselves out of money?
No likey, no lighty!
Author:  paulzolo [ Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: all your books are belong to us
steve74 wrote:
So, you want Apple to supply you with free software to enable you to create eBooks, then allow you to distribute that in whatever channel you want? Sorry, but that just ain't going to happen, Apple are in this to make money - like pretty much all distributors!
:roll:

I'm not saying this is right, but that's the way it is - why should they develop free software to do themselves out of money?
No likey, no lighty!



I suspect that this software is where iWeb went.

But, yes, Steve is correct. Apple are supplying the software for free, and it’s nothing out of the ordinary. Free software with channels to a revenue source for Apple. Of course, you don’t have to use it. You can still build ePub books using other software. I understand that the ePub3 format being used in this particular software iOS generating HTML5, so any web developing app that supports that version of HTML could be turned to this task.
Author:  jonbwfc [ Fri Jan 20, 2012 7:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: all your books are belong to us
paulzolo wrote:
But, yes, Steve is correct. Apple are supplying the software for free, and it’s nothing out of the ordinary. Free software with channels to a revenue source for Apple. Of course, you don’t have to use it. You can still build ePub books using other software. I understand that the ePub3 format being used in this particular software iOS generating HTML5, so any web developing app that supports that version of HTML could be turned to this task.

As far as I can see, any app that uses webkit can display the content of one of these ebooks. They may not get all the fancy interactive stuff, but it would certainly be readable.

The agreement is typically legalese but can be summarised like this, as far as I can tell :-

"You can have this software for free. You can make ebooks with it. If you want to give those ebooks away, knock yourself out, do what you like. if you want to sell those ebooks, you agree to do so through the Apple iBooks store and we take our 30%'.

It's an arrangement not dis-similar to the way some people distribute coding development environments. For example, there is a version of Visual Studio you can download for free which will let you write windows apps. If you code for your own purposes or give the apps you write to your friends, that's fine. But (legally anyway) you can't sell the apps you write with that version of VS. If you want to write apps to sell, you have to pay. an amount which, last time I looked, is quite a lot but not 'the price of a new car' money.

So the net effect is kind of the same, but the approach is different. And I suspect the vast majority of people who actually write ebooks with ebook author will sell few enough that Apple's cut isn't out the proportion as a cost to the price of the licensed version of VS. As long s the author retains copyright over the work, it's less of an issue than it immediately appears.

Personally, I'd have preferred a more nuanced approach - maybe take a smaller %age if the books sell for slower price or if they're educational rather than simply commercial but Apple has always been about keeping these kinds of deals simple, so that wasn't likely to change at this point. And it's fair to point out that, compared to 'print' books, keeping 70% of gross is a frankly phenomenal deal. if JK Rowling had get 70% of the gross of the Harry Potter books, she'd be richer than the Queen.

Jon
Author:  bobbdobbs [ Sun Jan 22, 2012 4:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: all your books are belong to us
steve74 wrote:
So, you want Apple to supply you with free software to enable you to create eBooks, then allow you to distribute that in whatever channel you want? Sorry, but that just ain't going to happen, Apple are in this to make money - like pretty much all distributors!
:roll:

I'm not saying this is right, but that's the way it is - why should they develop free software to do themselves out of money?
No likey, no lighty!

Quote:
The restriction is displayed when users run iBook Author, but only at the end of the e-book design process. At which point one might be prompted to go back and read the EULA - which wasn't displayed during the installation of the program:
I assume you missed this bit. Why display this restriction afterwards and not as part of the installation process.
Author:  Fogmeister [ Sun Jan 22, 2012 5:13 pm ]
Post subject:  all your books are belong to us
If you think about it though. How likely are you to be able to publish and sell a book on your own? I.e. have it displayed in a store with potentially millions of customers.

Pretty slim.

Ok, so you go through a publisher to get it done that way. How much does the publisher take as a percentage of all your sales? I reckon a lot more than 30%.

Ok it's a bit cheeky to only display it as part of the publishing process but it's better than not displaying it at all.

I don't see the problem.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=53.831528,-1.538564
Author:  paulzolo [ Sun Jan 22, 2012 5:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: all your books are belong to us
bobbdobbs wrote:
I assume you missed this bit. Why display this restriction afterwards and not as part of the installation process.


It]s right there on the App Store description. There is also a link to the EULA. If you are planning on selling books, and want to sue this software then why aren’t you reading this to ensure that it fits with your business plan? Apple are not, as some of the hand-wringers complain, hiding this information from you. I suspect that the people who have “discovered” this spot of so-called badness just clicked the “download” button willy-nilly. They are idiots if this is how they are operating.
Author:  jonbwfc [ Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: all your books are belong to us
paulzolo wrote:
and want to sue this software

FreudianSlipLOL.
Author:  steve74 [ Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: all your books are belong to us
This puts it into perspective...
http://namelesshorror.com/post/16168153 ... uthor-rage
Author:  paulzolo [ Sun Jan 22, 2012 9:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: all your books are belong to us
steve74 wrote:
This puts it into perspective...
http://namelesshorror.com/post/16168153 ... uthor-rage


^ This.
Author:  big_D [ Mon Jan 23, 2012 5:16 am ]
Post subject:  Re: all your books are belong to us
bobbdobbs wrote:
steve74 wrote:
So, you want Apple to supply you with free software to enable you to create eBooks, then allow you to distribute that in whatever channel you want? Sorry, but that just ain't going to happen, Apple are in this to make money - like pretty much all distributors!
:roll:

I'm not saying this is right, but that's the way it is - why should they develop free software to do themselves out of money?
No likey, no lighty!

Quote:
The restriction is displayed when users run iBook Author, but only at the end of the e-book design process. At which point one might be prompted to go back and read the EULA - which wasn't displayed during the installation of the program:
I assume you missed this bit. Why display this restriction afterwards and not as part of the installation process.

Which means that it is quite legal, in Germany, to publish books with the tool and sell them through any channel you want.

(In German law, any terms and conditions not told / displayed to the customer at the point of sale (packaged software) or point of installation (free software) are not enforceable under the law. This is why it is, technically, legal in Germany to install OS X on any computer - the restriction of use on only "Apple Branded" computers is inside the shrink-wrapped packaging and cannot be read by the consumer at the point of sale, therefore the term cannot be enforced.)
Author:  forquare1 [ Mon Jan 23, 2012 6:53 am ]
Post subject:  Re: all your books are belong to us
big_D wrote:
bobbdobbs wrote:
steve74 wrote:
So, you want Apple to supply you with free software to enable you to create eBooks, then allow you to distribute that in whatever channel you want? Sorry, but that just ain't going to happen, Apple are in this to make money - like pretty much all distributors!
:roll:

I'm not saying this is right, but that's the way it is - why should they develop free software to do themselves out of money?
No likey, no lighty!

Quote:
The restriction is displayed when users run iBook Author, but only at the end of the e-book design process. At which point one might be prompted to go back and read the EULA - which wasn't displayed during the installation of the program:
I assume you missed this bit. Why display this restriction afterwards and not as part of the installation process.

Which means that it is quite legal, in Germany, to publish books with the tool and sell them through any channel you want.

(In German law, any terms and conditions not told / displayed to the customer at the point of sale (packaged software) or point of installation (free software) are not enforceable under the law. This is why it is, technically, legal in Germany to install OS X on any computer - the restriction of use on only "Apple Branded" computers is inside the shrink-wrapped packaging and cannot be read by the consumer at the point of sale, therefore the term cannot be enforced.)


As Paul said, there is a link to the EULA on the App Store page, and the very last line of the not very long app description says
Apple wrote:
* Books may only be sold through the iBookstore; additional terms and conditions apply.


So there is no 'get out clause' for Germany...
Author:  big_D [ Tue Jan 24, 2012 5:02 am ]
Post subject:  Re: all your books are belong to us
Just installed it, it didn't show me any EULA before I "purchased" it.
Author:  forquare1 [ Tue Jan 24, 2012 6:28 am ]
Post subject:  all your books are belong to us
big_D wrote:
Just installed it, it didn't show me any EULA before I "purchased" it.


So the link in the store isn't good enough?
Author:  ProfessorF [ Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:02 am ]
Post subject:  Re: all your books are belong to us
http://dimsumthinking.com/2012/01/21/a-writers-eula/

Quote:
A Writer’s EULA
Daniel Steinberg compares Apple’s iBooks Author EULA to the terms and conditions of a traditional publishers contract for authors:

"I’ve been told by a publisher that they want a second edition of one of my books. Their conditions on me are that I drop this series of ebooks I’m working on because it might compete with the title. When I said no they responded that that’s ok they’ll just get someone else to revise my book.

My book.

It’s not really mine. Even though the copyright is in my name, that turns out not to mean very much.

So am I bothered by the iBooks Author EULA? No. But maybe that’s because I’ve been signing contracts with traditional publishers for so long."
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