The Day It All Changed « Follow The Reader

Truly wonderful stuff. I heartily congratulate Brewster Kahle and his Internet Archive staff on their achievement.

However, the next and biggest step is to have antiquated, unreasonable and unfair copyright laws changed so that orphaned works can be made available to everyone without restrictions.

Technology is changing the paradigm; being out of print and with no one to pay, orphaned works do not produce royalties; but now the Internet has the potential to provide everyone with easy access to electronic copies of these works, that is if we can overcome the legal issues. Let us not underestimate such a task. It will be an enormous challenge to shift entrenched political thinking on this issue, and it will have to be done in the face of fierce opposition from a powerful publishing lobby backed with strong finances.

Leaving aside the many moral arguments why legislators ought make current copyright law less restrictive, orphaned works should be made freely available simply on pragmatic and practical grounds.

Let me suggest an analogy, publishing moves on a front somewhat akin to a forest fire, publishers and authors have keenest interest in the thin publishing ‘front’ of current and popular works and to a lesser extent the still-smoldering ‘embers’ immediately to the rear–those books that pile up on remainder tables and slow-selling perennials. However, they show no interest in the dead and charred remains that lie for miles and miles behind the ‘front’. Once at the forefront of their interest, these out-of-print books are now passé: ownership of a work’s rights, if any, is either unknown or in doubt–yet unfair and questionably undemocratic provisions within copyright law ensure that these works are effectively withheld from nearly everyone but for a very limited and restrictive right granted to libraries. To the publishing industry, these orphaned works are a vast wasteland of worthless remains that they pay little or no attention to–other than to see the resource as competition if it were made freely available. And they are a source of frustration to those who want access to orphaned works, they either have to physically borrow books from a public library (assuming copies available), or they have the daunting and often uncertain task of trawling through secondhand book stores or equivalent Internet book sites looking for out-of-print books.

Nevertheless, as with the petulant, selfish spoilt brat who has discarded a toy until other kids try to play with it, publishers and authors have, since the Berne Convention of 1886, been zealot-like spoilers for those who want easy access to this vast forest of ‘dead’ works by ensuring that lawmakers severely limit that access. With the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) together with similar cloned acts and treaties enacted around the world (introduced after one-sided intensive lobbying by publishers and rights owners), never has copyright been stronger in protecting this vast ‘inaccessible’ collection of orphaned works. As stated above, the only exception is the awkward and restrictive peephole of traditional access that requires one’s actual physical presence at a library to borrow a work (assuming the library has it and it isn’t already out on loan).

Today, with efficient Internet and online technologies, it’s anathema that antiquated 19th century law still requires one’s physical presence at a library to borrow a book, or that an existing published work only be kept in its original physical format. Electronic facsimiles of books should be the norm if for no other reasons than their contents can be more easily cataloged and systematized as part of an overall library system, not to mention that electronic records are automatically backups for lost or damaged books. (In this modern Internet age, the law ought to mandate the digitization of books rather than hinder it with arcane and overly privileged copyright law as is presently the case.)

(No, I’m calling for the closure of libraries–make no mistake, for the foreseeable future physical libraries will still be needed to carry out their traditional functions: those of housing and cataloging books, research and the administration of the world’s repository of knowledge. Also, libraries have new responsibilities such as scanning and digitizing works and the development and implementation of systematic machine-interpretable classification systems that interpret, classify and catalog digitized data from books–a field that is still in its infancy. Unless we enter some Orwellian abyss, the traditional library will continue and have a long and useful future.)

What the Internet Archive has developed will make this ‘peephole access’ much easier for many, especially those who cannot physically access a library for whatever reason, distance, infirmity etc. Not only will this be a great improvement for existing users of library services but it will also provide access to many who have never previously used a library, and that should be loudly applauded.

Whilst the Internet Archive’s initiative is a marvelous advance in providing better access to the world’s collection of books, there nevertheless remains the key problem of providing a broader and more widespread access to orphaned works. The elephant in the room is the petulant brat’s continued, and so far unshakable, influence over the laws that keep orphaned works out of the reach of most people; ultimately this nexus must be broken and the laws changed to provide reasonable access for everyone.

What is at stake is enormous; in a time when the West (especially English-speaking counties) has seen a significant decline in rigorous education, especially in the sciences, engineering, mathematics and languages, we need easy access to orphaned works resources more than ever. Only last week President Obama said America’s success depends on improving education in science and engineering and that in today’s world education is the key to success and that of the informed citizen. Unlocking orphaned works has enormous potential to provide large benefits to education and the betterment of society, for example, unfettered access to this huge information repository would provide an excellent source of authoritative training material at very low cost, especially to needy and underprivileged schools.

Providing easier access to knowledge locked up in the orphaned works resource ought to be on the mind of every reasonable person–right, it ought to be a hot political issue but it is not. Unfortunately, I see little evidence of any coordinated effort to fight the ‘orphaned file inequity’ in a substantial or systematic way. I just wish libraries were politically much more active on this front but I do understand why they are not. ... See all content Hide content

1 month, 3 weeks ago by Graham Wilson on Wordpress

@gubilla @sumrtime @afamiglietti @cscannella @Kittydew have you all seen this? http://bit.ly/7LDnZl

2 months, 3 weeks ago by cscannella on Twitter

On Internet Archive's Brewster Kahle's BookServer project: http://followthereader.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/the-day-it-all-changed/ #eBooks

3 months, 2 weeks ago by montserratlj on Twitter

In one fell swoop, the Internet Archive expanded the availability of books to millions of people who never had .. http://bit.ly/65R6a3

4 months ago by mauicclibrary on Twitter

[...] BookServer is a framework of tools and activities that allow for the discovery, distribution, and delivery of electronic books by retailers, librarians, and aggregators. This is done in a way that makes for an easy experience for the reader, on whatever device they prefer. Files are also available in DAISY format. Click this link to read about and sample BookServer. [...]

4 months ago by BookServer Offers Books in Text-only DAISY Format « AccessTech News on Wordpress

Fabulous post! We can also celebrate the hundreds of thousands (millions maybe) of people with print disabilities that will enjoy a pleasureable reading experience in real-time. Bookshare (www.bookshare.org) is helping to make this happen for U.S. K-12 students for free through a grant from the U.S. DOE, Office of Special Education Programs. Bookshare converts digital files into DAISY and BRF (Braille) . ... See all content Hide content

4 months ago by Valerie Chernek on Wordpress

Michael, I was not there but wish I were.

With the 14 or so books that we published,

I wonder if there is something we can do

for the project?

John Shoup

Chairman/CEO

4 months, 2 weeks ago by John Shoup on Wordpress

BookServer Project: amazing implications for future of ebooks, reading, and getting published: http://bit.ly/N3Gn4

4 months, 3 weeks ago by RiverwoodWriter on Twitter

[...] Posted by rbwatson1 on October 26, 2009   Brewster Kahle, Internet Archive Founder and Chief Librarian, has introduced what he calls his BookServer project. BookServer is a framework of tools and activities that allow for the discovery, distribution, and delivery of electronic books by retailers, librarians, and aggregators. This is done in a way that makes for an easy experience for the reader, on whatever device they prefer. Files are also available in DAISY format. Read about and sample BookServer. [...] ... See all content Hide content

4 months, 3 weeks ago by BookServer Offers Books in Text-only DAISY Format « AccessTech News on Wordpress

Great – and important – post.

A wee correction if I may: The DAISY book reader was most likely from HumanWare (not Humana, a health insurance company last I checked). HumanWare is a leading provider of readers for the blind.

4 months, 3 weeks ago by BitPlayer on Wordpress

The Day It All Changed « Follow The Reader - http://followthereader.wordpress.com/2009...

4 months, 3 weeks ago by Karen Swim on Friendfeed

Internet Archive is going to index all available ebooks and show you how to get them, using open standards http://bit.ly/2udLu1

4 months, 3 weeks ago by tsepp on Twitter

[...] during the “Make Books Apparent” conference, Fran Toolan of Firebrand Technologies agreed: “What I saw, was many of the dreams and visions of e-book aficionados everywhere becoming a [...]

4 months, 4 weeks ago by The Week That Was | Booksquare on Wordpress

[...] Writer need readers. The latest good news in making e-books accessible to everyone — including 1 million kids who might not be able to afford to read otherwise — is BookServer. [...]

4 months, 4 weeks ago by Sterling Editing | Written on the internet on Wordpress

"The Day it All Changed" by Fran Toolan - an overview of the Bookserver Project - http://tr.im/CFUT

5 months ago by totai on Twitter

[...] “The Day It All Changed” (via @OLPC) – “Follow the Reader” reports on a demonstration by the Internet Archive’s Brewster Kahle of the Book Server project that gives access to 1.6 million books on a variety of devices (including the XO laptops).  There are also some interesting numbers in that report, such as that 20% in libraries worldwide are in public domain .  Really interesting. [...] ... See all content Hide content

5 months ago by Reading blogs #21 : ::: Think Macro ::: on Wordpress

The Day It All Changed (report on debut of Internet Archive's BookServer initiative, courtesy of If:book) http://tinyurl.com/yhzrv5l

5 months ago by endless_bkshelf on Twitter

#Bookserver: Excitement! ♻ @ftoolan: my report from last night. unbelievable http://bit.ly/4l2HjG #makebooks #followreader #openpublishing

5 months ago by saqeram on Twitter

Internet Achive's Bookserver project certainly seems impressive. Could it cut publishers out? Dominate AMZ? http://bit.ly/Bookserve

5 months ago by zacharyparadis on Twitter

what’s a zero among friends??? I guess when it’s billions we’re talking about, its 1,000 orders of magnatude…

5 months ago by ftoolan on Wordpress

Mother of all book demos: the bookserver project! http://bit.ly/3eamVw (thanks @steveportigal) #unbook so excited by this!!!

5 months ago by davegray on Twitter

I understand how you feel completely. I wasn’t even there but I have a feeling of epiphany about the entire thing just from having it described to me and feeling the excitement of others about it….like that first message I got back over a BBS about nothing of any real importance from a person I didn’t know.

I realized in that moment that the rules of an essential human function , communication, had changed forever.

I have had the feeling for months now that another change was brewing, and I feel BookServer and the projects it will inspire will be a big part of that change. ... See all content Hide content

5 months ago by BardHaven on Wordpress

http://bit.ly/GcJ9 and today they got access to 1.6 million new books.

5 months ago by cryurchin on Twitter

http://bit.ly/GcJ9 There are 1 million of these machines in the hands of underprivileged children around the world.

5 months ago by cryurchin on Twitter

http://bit.ly/GcJ9 BookServer technology can deliver books to the OLPC (one laptop per child) XO laptop, wirelessly.

5 months ago by cryurchin on Twitter

thanks for the clarification Michael. it was hard to remember it all – i didn’t even take notes!

5 months ago by ftoolan on Wordpress

BookServer can deliver 1.6 m ebooks to OLPC (One Laptop per Child) XO laptops, wirelessly. @ftoolan http://is.gd/4sHao #digitaldivide

5 months ago by glecharles on Twitter

Wow! @ftoolan reports 1 million underprivileged kids worldwide get 1.6 million e-books thanks to BookServer project: http://bit.ly/4l2HjG

5 months ago by charabbott on Twitter

[...] See Also: The Day it all Changed (via Follow the Reader) In this article we learn that: + The Internet Archive and its library partners have now scanned over 1.6 million books. + All of these books are in the EPub Format + They are also in Daisy format, used to create braille and text to speech. [...]

5 months ago by Internet Archive Unveils Open System Allowing Search Engines to Index Books From Many Different Sources « ResourceShelf on Wordpress

TWO new posts: #followreader recap of FTC guidelines discussion http://bit.ly/3VqLy9 & @ftoolan's report on #makebooks http://bit.ly/4l2HjG

5 months ago by NetGalley on Twitter

[...] fervor when Brewster demonstrated finding and downloading a book to an XO laptop, or even the straight-from-church-services “come on down!” moment, no one turned water into wine. At least not that I saw. Related posts:None [...]

5 months ago by hangingtogether.org » Blog Archive » The Cult of Brewster Finds Its Church on Wordpress

.@ftoolan -Well written, not enough coffee to think thru all the publishing implications. thx for sharing: http://bit.ly/4l2HjG #makebooks

5 months ago by wiremamma on Twitter

New on #FollowReader blog: @ftoolan's report on yesterday ("The Day it all Changed") - http://bit.ly/4l2HjG #makebooks #followreader #fire09

5 months ago by NetGalley on Twitter