Uploading my own audiobook (voice-acted) - what do the rules say?

Valera · Post by **Valera** » April 10th, 2020, 4:14 am

So I recorded an audiobook (dark fantasy inspired by real events), it's even voice-acted and I hired some talented people for that. I want to upload it in its entirety to LibriVox but retain copyrights just in case (i.e. I don't want to declare I'm officially putting it up on "public domain"). In other words I want as many people listening to my story and I don't care about money, that's why I'm here. What's the ruling on that? Can I do that?

You can listen to it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5iAyTLPOA4

-Val

tovarisch · Post by **tovarisch** » April 10th, 2020, 4:27 am

In a word, no.

The rule we go by, is very simple: we record texts that are already in the public domain. While copyright laws do differ by country, so we often rely on the United States' copyright law (our recordings are stored there), which means the works we read were published in or before 1924.

We are not a venue for self-publishing. Upload to other collections, like 'archive.org' (where our recordings are hosted too).

Good luck!

Post by **Availle** » April 10th, 2020, 4:27 am

Hi there and welcome!
Congrats on your audiobook!

I'm afraid, you cannot upload this to LV.
First of all, all our audiobooks are released into the public domain, and since you don't want to do this (for obvious reasons), this is a no-go.
Second, we do not deal with self-published books at all; our text policy is mainly concerned with "old" books that are out of copyright (i.e., published pre-1924 in the US, for the most part).

There is always https://scribl.com/ - formerly podiobooks - a way to publish text and audio to reach readers and listeners.

Good luck!

Valera · Post by **Valera** » April 11th, 2020, 9:24 pm

Gotcha.
Thanks for the clear answer and the references, you both, I'll go check it out

Edit: You know what's funny? I think I'll have more people listening to my story if I put it on audible and charge money for it instead of putting it on youtube for free

Post by **Availle** » April 11th, 2020, 9:32 pm

That's actually quite likely.

Maybe it's because "if it's free, surely it's not worth anything, so I won't waste my time on it"?

People (and business) are weird sometimes.

Post by **ColleenMc** » April 15th, 2020, 6:50 am

Valera wrote: ↑April 11th, 2020, 9:24 pm Gotcha.
Thanks for the clear answer and the references, you both, I'll go check it out

Edit: You know what's funny? I think I'll have more people listening to my story if I put it on audible and charge money for it instead of putting it on youtube for free

Maybe put it on Amazon's Kindle Unlimited program, which has an option to include the audiobook as a "borrow" option. I'm a KU member and notice that sometimes you can automatically add on the audiobook when you borrow a book, but not always.

Also, I've noticed that the Librivox app (which is not created or managed by the Librivox folks here) has some non-LV stuff on it, including what seem to be self-published books. I don't know who makes it or who decides to upload it but you could check into them and see what their requirements are to upload.

Finally, a kind of off beat suggestion -- maybe don't put the audiobook straight onto YouTube (tho of course you can, and it would be easier since it's already completed) but do some videos of yourself reading the story -- a lot of people are watching a lot more YT looking for entertainment right now. If you read in a soft voice and tag it as ASMR or bedtime story it will get some hits, and if people like it they will definitely come back for more. A lot of folks are looking for things to watch/listen to when they need to relax or fall asleep. I have a whole playlist of "go tos" that I use for that purpose myself, and actually came to Librivox by way of YouTube videos that were just uploads of LV books.

Good luck with your book!

Colleen