eBayed Librivox!

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GordMackenzie
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Joined: September 26th, 2005, 5:50 am
Location: Troy, MI

Post by GordMackenzie »

Whee!

I knew it had to happen... this may not be the first, but it's the first I've spotted. "Tiramisu5459" is selling a good percentage of the Librivox catalog on eBay!

No, they don't out and out state that these are Librivox recording, but just check out the notes:
"Kindly take note that these recordings are from the Writer?s Original Work, which is now in The Public Domain. They are read by Modern Readers who placed these recordings in The Public Domain. They ARE NOT copies of any other "copyrighted commercially available recordings" and as such they do not infringe any copyrights but are in full accord with Ebay?s policy."
Tiramisu has over 100 positive feedback, so it looks like the CDs are selling like hot cakes!

Good luck Tiramisu5459!

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZtiramisu5459QQhtZ-1
Gord Mackenzie
gord[dot]mackenzie[at]gmail.com
Librivox Wiki Page: [url=http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/GordMackenzie]GordMackenzie[/url]
tina
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Post by tina »

I like the artwork he chose, although I don't think Catherine Morland dressed *quite* so daringly! :lol:
[url=http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/TinaTilney/]Tina's Wiki Page[/url] | I can receive files by [url=http://www.pando.com/]pando.com[/url]
hugh
LibriVox Admin Team
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Post by hugh »

he (or someone) contacted me about this ... i said go for it. whoever it was told me they would leave all the disclaimers etc in there, but who knows. but it's a service (CDs) we aren't providing, so more power to em. though I note they are mp3 CDs and not audio CDs, which makes it easier for us, if we want to do the same thing.

and this might light a fire under the "provide CDs somehow" movement in LV.
GordMackenzie
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Post by GordMackenzie »

tina wrote:I like the artwork he chose, although I don't think Catherine Morland dressed *quite* so daringly! :lol:
:shock:
Gord Mackenzie
gord[dot]mackenzie[at]gmail.com
Librivox Wiki Page: [url=http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/GordMackenzie]GordMackenzie[/url]
kayray
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Post by kayray »

Wow, that is really cool! It's our stuff without a doubt. His auction descriptions are nice and clear, and usually mention whether the books are read by a man, a woman, or an assortment of readers. Look, even Kri's wedding poems are there! I *love* his choice of artwork. Wow, this is just so great. And he's not charging much for the cds, either.
Kara
http://kayray.org/
--------
"Mary wished to say something very sensible into her Zoom H2 Handy Recorder, but knew not how." -- Jane Austen (& Kara)
rfrancis
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Joined: September 27th, 2005, 1:34 pm
Location: Stillwater, OK

Post by rfrancis »

This item got me out of the woodwork, at least for a moment.

Am I the only one that feels weird about this? Someone's making money off of my freely-given work (potentially. I haven't checked to see what all works are listed.) I don't dispute that there is value in the effort of making the CDs and making them available, and I acknowledged that he talked to hugh and got his okay, so sure, the seller's in the clear.

Which doesn't stop me from feeling uneasy about it.

Shrug.

-R
[url=http://www.pendantaudio.com/bios/rfrancis.html]me[/url]
a.r.dobbs
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Joined: February 23rd, 2006, 1:04 am
Location: Boston

Post by a.r.dobbs »

Maybe this gives us a chance to make clear and conscious what most folks haven't really given thought to when they volunteer their readings to LV.

Somewhere in our intro material and in the threads for projects (getting longer and longer, those top posts, eh?) we should maybe say what it really really means that you're contributing to the public domain.

And while this person has checked in advance, it isn't a requirement, but a courtesy on the part of that particular person. And someday someone here is likely to come across very different examples of commercial use -- examples we wouldn't approve of.

When folks are made fully aware of this meaning of "in the public domain," some may strongly perfer to go for Creative Commons arrangements instead, and it would be better for them to discover that earlier rather than later.

For the greater good it does, I personally will stick with LV and public domain, aware there will be stuff I don't like that comes from it as well. The benefits far outweigh, imho. But some of my very best friends would never dream of allowing their work to go out in this way. And I have no attitude against any who feel that way -- truly.

I think we should make it super clear if we can.

Anita
Starlite
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Post by Starlite »

I think I would be flattered if someone did this with my recording(s)
but it's a service (CDs) we aren't providing, so more power to em
I think the cost he is charging (providing people dont bid against each other) is quite reasonable considering the time involved in downloading, burning, designing covers etc.

We have had discusion about providing some alternatives for those with low bandwidth. This is a feasable option. :)
"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable
people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress,
therefore, depends on unreasonable people." George Bernard Shaw
rfrancis
Posts: 93
Joined: September 27th, 2005, 1:34 pm
Location: Stillwater, OK

Post by rfrancis »

I wish to be crystal clear that I am not objecting, nor asserting anyone has done anything wrong. I'm giving my reaction, primarily to see if it draws anyone else's out of the woodwork (and it has, to some extent, although I was hoping for personal reactions, not "what he did is okay," which is not in dispute.)

I certainly agree that readers, potential and actual, should seriously consider the implications of the public domain. I assure you my own podcasts are Creative Commons licensed for exactly this reason. Librivox is, was, and will be free to do whatever it wants with anything I have recorded for it, and so is anyone else.

Fortunately, I can still reserve the right to feel funny about it.

-R
[url=http://www.pendantaudio.com/bios/rfrancis.html]me[/url]
tina
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Post by tina »

My first reaction was to feel funny about it too. But then I realized that he's providing a service we're not offering and more people will hear us.

I'd definitely feel bad if someone started selling our work as downloads when they can come here and get it free. But they'd be legally entitled to do it. Just as someone could (and probably does) legally sell ebooks of Pride and Prejudice when anyone can get it from PG. I think that would fall into the "legal but not ethical" category.
[url=http://librivox.org/wiki/moin.cgi/TinaTilney/]Tina's Wiki Page[/url] | I can receive files by [url=http://www.pando.com/]pando.com[/url]
a.r.dobbs
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Post by a.r.dobbs »

was I on a soapbox? er, excuse me choir while I slip into the chorus.

yup, it does make me uneasy. Carpe PD anyway, eh? Not uneasy over this example, just knowing all sorts of other things could be done. In part that's growing pain. But only in part. The rest is just another of the uncomfortable aspects of being out there. Hermit streak slips me back into the wings now.
Last edited by a.r.dobbs on August 2nd, 2006, 3:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
kri
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Post by kri »

I must say that this doesn't make me uncomfortable at all. I felt more uncomfortable about the guy providing our files for download (including other file formats we don't offer I will admitt) who was cutting out the disclaimer, and only making a mention of us without a link. To his credit he did add a link (not just a text reference) to our site, which made me feel much better.

The person who's doing this is leaving the disclaimer in, which makes me feel much much better about this. Those who listen will hear librivox.org and perhaps get curious enough to visit the site. Those who are knowledgeable enough will understand what we mean when we say "All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain" and continue to buy the CDs because it's convenient, or decide to visit the website and see what they can do themselves.

Wow, they've got a whole lot of our cataloged stuff up.
pberinstein
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Joined: September 26th, 2005, 5:47 pm

Post by pberinstein »

I know what you guys mean about feeling weird, but my feeling is, "Way cool!"
Paula B
The Writing Show, where writing is always the story
http://www.writingshow.com
harvey
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Joined: February 16th, 2006, 4:51 pm
Location: Idaho

Post by harvey »

Look, if "public domain" means you can do what you want with it, then I
don't see that we can say it's improper or unethical to sell LibriVox
recordings.

I think it would be unethical to pass off LibriVox recordings as one's
own work. And I would find it improper if the seller hides the fact
that LibriVox recordings are available for free on-line.

Based on the descriptions above of what the eBay seller is doing, I
support it, and it doesn't make me uneasy. He is providing a valuable
service. There are folks who would want to listen to our work, but
either won't or can't acquire the files for themselves. My parents
are a case in point. My mother knows nothing about using computers,
and my father refuses to learn to download files or burn CDs.
Therefore, I download the files and make MP3 disks for them. I'm
planning to do this for folks in my church as part of a group project.
Very likely, we will charge a fee to cover materials and the cost of
the duplicating equipment (details yet to be worked out).

Here's an example of what I do object to. Last year, I bought a CD-ROM
on eBay for "PDF Creator". The cost was cheap (especially compared to
the price of Adobe Acrobat). What I objected to was that the eBay
seller did not inform me that I could download PDF Creator for free,
since it is freeware.

As part of my planned church project, we will tell buyers where they
can download the files for themselves. But, if they prefer, they can
buy LibriVox audio books on disk from us (the church project).
kri
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Post by kri »

That sounds like a great project Harvey :)
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