COMPLETE Wishing Horse of Oz-mas

Elizabby · Post by **Elizabby** » April 30th, 2018, 2:11 pm

I'm here - the next chapter is a long one and I'm finding the voices tiring so I've been working on some other DR projects which were due. I'll get back to this as soon as I finish Polynesia from Dr Doolittle - I can't handle too many voices at once!

DrPGould · Post by **DrPGould** » April 30th, 2018, 3:59 pm

No problem. Polynesia would be a great challenge (and a lot of fun).

Philip

Elizabby · Post by **Elizabby** » April 30th, 2018, 4:51 pm

The Dr Dolittle project is the purple link in my signature line - have a look if you are interested! We still need a "mussel man" and a "Luke the Hermit" and a variety of other small parts. I think you'd make a great hermit (previously a miner and perhaps secretly a murderer...)

DrPGould · Post by **DrPGould** » July 12th, 2018, 1:13 pm

Beth:

19 and 20 are PL-OK! Nicely done!

One more to go!

Many thanks,

Philip

Elizabby · Post by **Elizabby** » July 12th, 2018, 2:35 pm

LOL! You beat me to it! I was going to post all three remaining chapters at once so that you could PL them in order, but Ch 18 is the longest so I'm still editing it! With a bit of luck (and not too much noise in the house) it will go up on Friday.

DrPGould · Post by **DrPGould** » July 12th, 2018, 2:44 pm

I thought about waiting for it, but the temptation was just too much. Ok...I know now how it comes out, but I don't know how it happened.......

Philip

Elizabby · Post by **Elizabby** » July 12th, 2018, 10:43 pm

Chapter 18! Finishing up this project at last!

https://librivox.org/uploads/maryannspiegel/wishinghorse_18_thompson_128kb.mp3 (17:40)

You will notice I've tried this new idea of putting a watermark under the text in the first minute of this chapter, to make it commercially unviable. Don't know if you've been following the thread about this, if you want to quickly read about it, it's here: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=70888

I'd be interested to know what you think - I think it's soft and low enough that you can still hear the text above (and I've chosen some non-critical text even if you can't) but it won't noise clean out too easily and obviously a commercial recording can't have the LV disclaimer running underneath! I find this a happy medium between security and public availability. I don't really want my own non-commercial recordings competing with my actual commercial recordings!

If you think it's OK, I might quickly go back and add it to a couple of other chapters - there are a few that I need to reupload to change the filenames anyway, and a watermark doesn't need to be on every chapter. Just enough to deter amateur sound engineers!

EDIT: I've also updated the summary for the catalogue and made a comment there that this recording contains watermarks - if the listener doesn't know what they means, they will when they hear it!

DrPGould · Post by **DrPGould** » July 13th, 2018, 10:57 am

Congratulations, Beth!

Section 18 is PL-OK! You're finished!

Thank you for the opportunity to hear this delightful work.

Many thanks,

Philip

DrPGould · Post by **DrPGould** » July 13th, 2018, 11:03 am

Beth:

I started to give you a long spiel laced with strategies that Librivox might consider to make the piracy more difficult in addition to the audio tags (an evil is seems to me, but a necessary one). If there is a need to take some effective action I'd be happy to share some thoughts, but I don't get a great sense that there is a ground swell of (by gum something ought to be done)

As to the audio tag....I've heard that on two or three files, recently and have noted it for correction each time. However, now that I know what is going on, I won't any more unless it completely garbles the recording. This one didn't. (I would prefer a more pointed text something on the order of (This recording available without charge at Librivox.org--just to really grab the listener's attention).

I hadn't heard anything about using audio tags prior to your post. Is there a board or pod cast or some way of regularly communicating these kind of issues (like a monthly newletter kind of thing)? I keep running into stuff like this "on the fly" that seemingly "everyone else knows" and I feel like I've missed a staff meeting or something.

Philip

Elizabby · Post by **Elizabby** » July 13th, 2018, 3:16 pm

There's no monthly newsletter that I'm aware of - I just watch the "news/suggestions" forum. Although this particular topic came up first on the Facebook page!

I'm interested to hear that other people are doing this - I'm DPLing for a couple of projects at the moment but none of those have taken it up. I used the standard LV disclaimer - mainly because I wanted a male voice in contrast to my own. So I snipped a bit out of a current project, meaning I was stuck with the wording given.

I'm aware that there are potentially a range of actions that could be taken to prevent commercial use of LV recordings - but this is something I can do as an individual, without looking for wholesale change of the LV platform. I'm just one person, and not even an admin here, so I only have control over what I place in the PD. I'm happy with this!

But as you say, I think it sounds weird if you aren't expecting it, so I might add a comment to the discussion thread that I think a note in the catalogue summary will warn both the listeners and potential pirates that this project will be more trouble than it's worth!

Thanks for DPLing for me! It's been fun to get back into recording after a break - I've been sick but I'm better now. Which means I need to get back to recording the narration for my long suffering DR, Wives and Daughters. I hope the DPL for that project is still around! So no new solo for me yet, but I have my eye on The Secret Garden eventually!

Also, if you aren't flat out recording at the moment, would you consider taking the last chorus part the The Mikado? I'm desperate for one last male voice! No singing, it's a poetic reading and not much Japanese - it's a comedy, if you're not familiar with it.

Post by **MaryAnnSpiegel** » July 13th, 2018, 3:44 pm

Beth,
I'm waiting to catalog until there's a final view of the watermark.
MaryAnn

Elizabby · Post by **Elizabby** » July 13th, 2018, 4:17 pm

Is Admin considering banning it? (A natural conclusion as clearly it can't be required, and making it optional would not necessarily require an admin decision.)

Obviously I don't think that's a good idea - I'm aware it will only be a minority of soloists who will take this up, but surely leaving the option open to the reader is the most logical path?

The fact that the CC license discussion comes up over and over suggests that the issue of commercialization isn't simply going to go away.

Since LV appears philosophically opposed to moving to a CC license (as the mechanics would be worked out if the will to do it were there) I would suggest that this alternative puts the control over the work back in the hands of the reader. The work remains fully PD, just as LV wants AND is protected from commercialization, as a small number of narrators feel is necessary.

Overall, I would say this is a win-win solution for both LV and narrators - because LV will otherwise lose people who want to record but are concerned that their work will be commercialized by others.

I acknowledge that there will be a small inconvenience to listeners as a price to pay for getting a free version - but my understanding is that LV has always taken the attitude that the listeners are getting a free product, and that if they don't like it they can go pay for a version more to their liking!

If the concern is an uptick in admin workload due to increased error reports (as annise seemed to fear) then I have two suggestions:
1) projects with an audio watermark should say so in the catalogue summary
2) I am willing to volunteer to staff the email account which takes the error reports and help shoulder the additional work.

DrPGould · Post by **DrPGould** » July 13th, 2018, 5:23 pm

Beth:

I'll take the role in the Mikado. My Japanese is every bit as good as my Croatian (which is non-existent). But I have a weakness for desiring to see projects cataloged.

I hope the role is short, but if it isn't you'll still have it by Monday.

Many thanks,

Philip

Post by **MaryAnnSpiegel** » July 25th, 2018, 5:20 pm

Beth,

Still waiting for Hugh to weigh in on the audio watermark.

But I see your group Oz project is also finished (am I embarassed to have missed that for so long!

) and I'll get that one cataloged. There's no mention of a watermark over there, and it seems group projects are much less likely than solos to be repurposed on Audible.

MaryAnn

Elizabby · Post by **Elizabby** » July 25th, 2018, 5:41 pm

No need to apologise - I'm also waiting on Hugh's opinion, but obviously LV takes a back seat to real life demands!

I only think watermarks are necessary for solos - I wouldn't put them into any group project. The other Oz book has only just finished - we were waiting on the last section for quite a while.