View unanswered posts | View active topics
It is currently Tue Aug 19, 2025 10:56 am
all your books are belong to us
Author |
Message |
bobbdobbs
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:10 pm Posts: 5490 Location: just behind you!
|
_________________Finally joined Flickr
|
Fri Jan 20, 2012 4:14 pm |
|
 |
steve74
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:43 pm Posts: 1798 Location: Manchester
|
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! 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!
_________________ * Steve *
* Witty statement goes here *
|
Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:07 pm |
|
 |
paulzolo
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:27 pm Posts: 12251
|
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.
|
Fri Jan 20, 2012 6:12 pm |
|
 |
jonbwfc
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:26 pm Posts: 17040
|

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
|
Fri Jan 20, 2012 7:41 pm |
|
 |
bobbdobbs
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:10 pm Posts: 5490 Location: just behind you!
|
I assume you missed this bit. Why display this restriction afterwards and not as part of the installation process.
_________________Finally joined Flickr
|
Sun Jan 22, 2012 4:55 pm |
|
 |
Fogmeister
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:35 pm Posts: 6580 Location: Getting there
|
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
|
Sun Jan 22, 2012 5:13 pm |
|
 |
paulzolo
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:27 pm Posts: 12251
|
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.
|
Sun Jan 22, 2012 5:29 pm |
|
 |
jonbwfc
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:26 pm Posts: 17040
|
|
Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:38 pm |
|
 |
steve74
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:43 pm Posts: 1798 Location: Manchester
|
_________________ * Steve *
* Witty statement goes here *
|
Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:43 pm |
|
 |
paulzolo
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:27 pm Posts: 12251
|
|
Sun Jan 22, 2012 9:29 pm |
|
 |
big_D
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:25 pm Posts: 10691 Location: Bramsche
|
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.)
_________________ "Do you know what this is? Hmm? No, I can see you do not. You have that vacant look in your eyes, which says hold my head to your ear, you will hear the sea!" - Londo Molari
Executive Producer No Agenda Show 246
|
Mon Jan 23, 2012 5:16 am |
|
 |
forquare1
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:36 pm Posts: 5161 Location: /dev/tty0
|
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 So there is no 'get out clause' for Germany...
|
Mon Jan 23, 2012 6:53 am |
|
 |
big_D
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:25 pm Posts: 10691 Location: Bramsche
|
Just installed it, it didn't show me any EULA before I "purchased" it.
_________________ "Do you know what this is? Hmm? No, I can see you do not. You have that vacant look in your eyes, which says hold my head to your ear, you will hear the sea!" - Londo Molari
Executive Producer No Agenda Show 246
|
Tue Jan 24, 2012 5:02 am |
|
 |
forquare1
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:36 pm Posts: 5161 Location: /dev/tty0
|
So the link in the store isn't good enough?
|
Tue Jan 24, 2012 6:28 am |
|
 |
ProfessorF
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:56 pm Posts: 12030
|
|
Tue Jan 24, 2012 8:02 am |
|
|
Who is online |
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 13 guests |
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum
|
|