Just before I headed out this morning, I got the word from Robin Sullivan at Ridan Publishing that Orbit had requested that the Podiobooks version of The Crown Conspiracy come down as soon as possible. I talked about that a lot today.
Yesterday’s Word Count: 0
Today’s Starting Count: 11,674
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Actually, I’m not sure why Evo would *have* to take those files down. I expect he will, simply because he can’t afford the actual legal fight over it, but…
Each file ends with the statement by you that “This is a production from Durandus, released under a Creative Commons – Attribution – No Commercial – No Derivatives 3.0 License.”
As I read that, mirrors of these files (unmodified) at the Internet Archive, or torrent files distributed via the normal BitTorrent sources, would be perfectly legal.
Still, Podiobooks runs on a tight enough shoe-string that I expect Evo will have them taken down very shortly. I’m just considering my moral imperatives, as I have all 10 downloaded and stored on my local hard drive (as is my right, as I read it, under that license).
It’s a customer service/good faith thing on the part of Podiobooks. The author (or in this case his bona fide representative) has asked for the title to be removed. They don’t need to have a reason. It’s part of “the deal” with Podiobooks.
What any customer does with the files after they download them is up to them, but in theory it would be up to Orbit (or the audio rights licensee) to pursue any action following that. Given that the files are offered under CC-BY-AT-NC, making a DMCA take down stick on any third party would be an interesting legal challenge. It’s not one that I’d be willing to take on.
That’s about what I figured. I do have to wonder if the Orbit lawyers did their due dilligence, and know that those files are in the wild and they can’t do anything about it. For that matter, having been reading KKR’s Business Blog since you linked to it, I hope Michael checked the contract *VERY* closely for what it says about that stuff. Frankly, having read her posts, I don’t want to go *NEAR* a traditional publishing house! I don’t have an advanced degree in Sneaky, like the officers of the Lois, but those sharks have Post-Doctorates in Sneaky.
I agree with everything you have said on the subject of the take-down order for “The Crown Conspiracy”. This is really a shame, and the more so because you put so much quality into your narration. But, like Tara Li, I’ve got my quality copies of this fine audio work squirreled away for a rainy day.
The odd thing is that I do not think that the existance of the audio version necessarily affects the sales of any print (or ebook) version so dramatically. Some people just have to have the print version, even having heard the story. Others (and I’ve actually met this type) tell me that they just don’t like audio books and could I please tell them where they can get a print version of this or that book. Go figure.
My experience is that having the podcast version actually drives sales of print — either through ( a ) liking the audio so much they want to read it, ( b ) wanting to give the story to somebody who doesn’t like audio, or ( c ) spreading the word to people who don’t listen to podcasts.
Mainstream publishing has so much to learn about this space, but I’m not going to be the one to school them.