#Audiblegate: ALLi Campaign Update - Alliance of Independent Authors

Today as Panzer was sweeping the floor in the Panzermobile, he noticed something shoved under the mat on the passenger side. Pulling it out, our fastidious kitty boy discovered it was a post from the Alliance of Independent Authors Advice Blog site about Audiblegate. Panzer has posted about Audiblegate in the past with his most recent post being in December.

 

The section about no class action suits was news to me.

Orna Ross' post goes into great detail explaining what has been happening at Amazon's Audible which brought about the Audiblegate name. Audible accidentally posted information online pertaining to their practice of encouraging users to return audio books after listening to them. The company then took the money for the purchase from the author/narrator/publisher's account and the user was then allowed to get another audio book. As soon as authors learned of the tactic there was immediate protest. Audible made some changes to the program, however has refused to address author concerns. With the help of legal counsel the necessary steps to file legal action is being explored.

Panzer says, "Another court case involving Amazon?"

 

Note: This is a h-u-m-o-n-g-o-u-s post. Bring a thermos of tea, a thermos of cocoa, a thermos of coffee, 20 muffins, 10 creme-filled cupcakes, and 12 chocolate chip cookies (biscuits) for today's reading selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to Audiblegate

To read Panzer's earlier post about Audiblegate go to Audible petition 

Writers Groups Protest Audible Exchange Policy - Publishers Weekly

 Today Panzer was just finishing his afternoon nap when his kitty bed was shaken violently by noises coming from the Catosphere. Hopping in the Panzermobile, our brave kitty boy headed into the maelstrom of crying and shouting. Following the chaos took him to the Publishers Weekly site. There he discovered the cause of the problems was a post about Audible.

You know, sneaky always gets caught.

According to the post by Jim Milliot, Audible and Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) now have as part of the company's Audible Premium Plus membership benefits, members can purchase an audiobook, listen to it, return it within 365 days, and then exchange it for another audiobook. When the audiobook is returned for the exchange, the royalties for the sale are removed from the author's royalties account. Audible began doing this without notifying the authors what the company was doing or why. When writers discovered what Audible was doing, they contacted the Authors Guild. The Authors Guild and other writers groups are in the process of collecting signatures on a letter protesting what Audible is doing. The letter likens the new process to Audible having a rental or subscription service. Audible has now backtracked a little and says the company won't deduct royalties for books returned after 7 days. This, however, won't become effective until January 1, 2021.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Seems like Audible has stepped in a big pile of you know what."

Note: This is a l-o-n-g post. Bring a cup of tea and two muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Audible exchange policy

Spotify's move into audiobooks is a seismic shift in the publishing landscape, but the ripples will take time to be felt - The New Publishing Standard

As Panzer entered the Catosphere today, the Panzermobile was violently shaken by oohhing and aahhing coming from outside. Following all the noise took our brave kitty boy to The New Publishing Standard site. There he found a post about Spotify and audio books.

This could get really interesting.

According to Mark Williams post, Spotify is getting ready to start an audio book subscription service in the U.S. similar to its music service. The company is advertising for an "executive to join the Spotify Studios team" with  experience in audio books. There doesn't appear to be a specific timeline for the rollout of the new service. Obviously,  Spotify's audio book service would be in direct competition with Amazon's Audible. There are several links included in the post to other information about Spotify, the company's podcast service, the company's music service, audio book services in general, and other topics.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... This little kitty wants to know if Spotify can do for audio books what it did for music."

Note: This is a humongous post. Bring a thermos of lemonade, three muffins and three brownies. If you plan to follow the links in the post, bring a gallon of tea, six chocolate chip cookies (biscuits), three more muffins, your lunch in case you're still hungry, and your sleeping bag if you need a nap when you finish reading. (You have been warned. There is a lot of information in this post and the links.)

To read the post tootle over to Spotify and audiobooks

Amazon upgrades Fire HD 8 lineup, adds USB-C charging, aiming to rebound in tablet market - GeekWire

I want one.

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he heard clapping and cheering coming from outside the Panzermobile. Following all the noise took our inquisitive kitty to the GeekWire site. With no digging in the post pile, he found one about Amazon's Fire tablet.

According to Kurt Schlosser's post, Amazon has made upgrades to the Fire HD tablet. The post examines the Fire HD 8 and Fire HD 8 Plus for adults and the Fire HD 8 for Kids. Prices range from $89.00 to $159.00 depending on the different features and special offers you choose. You can use Zoom, Audible, Prime and more on the tablet. There are links included in the post to go to the Amazon store to check out the specifications and add-ons for each tablet.

Panzer says, "MeWow! I can Zoom with the new girl kitty down the street."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a small muffin for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow the links, bring an extra muffin.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon Fire Tablets

Trouble in Audible - Indies Unlimited

Today as Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere, the Panzermobile was suddenly buffeted by ranting and crying coming from outside. Following all the hullabaloo took our intrepid kitty boy to the Indies Unlimited site. There with no digging at all in the posts he found one about changes to Audible.

You scammer guys know it's stealing, right?

According to the post by Melissa Bowersock, scammers have taken up residence on Amazon's Audible. Amazon's audio book producer ACX has been letting authors and narrators of audio books give away free promo codes so listeners could get their audio books for free. Audible would then give the authors and narrators royalties on those free downloads as if they were bought downloads. Recently scammers have entered the market putting up "fake" audio books and using the free promo codes to game the system and get unearned royalties. ACX and Audible have now done away with the free promo code royalty system. Legitimate audio book authors and narrators are the ones being punished for what the scammers have been doing.

Panzer says, "Those scammer guys can't leave a good thing alone. They just have to ruin it for everybody else."

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Audible

Settlement Terms Revealed (Mostly) in Audible Captions Litigation - Publishers Weekly

Only thing hidden is the money.

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he decided to make a quick stop at the Publishers Weekly site. He's really happy he did, because the big news is the settlement in the Audible Captions case.

According to Andrew Albanese, Judge Caproni has agreed to accept the lawsuit agreement between Audible and the seven original publishers and the Association of American Publishers (AAP). Judge Caproni wanted the two sides to agree on how much of the settlement would be unsealed. The unsealed portion of the document is how much the public gets to see. Now that the document is available, there doesn't appear to be anything in there which wasn't already known, except the amount Audible paid to the publishers and the AAP. There are several links included in the post.

Panzer says, "This little kitty was beginning to think the case would never be settled."

Note: This is a long post. Bring a cup of tea and three muffins for today's reading. If you plan to follow all the links, bring a thermos of tea and twelve muffins.

To read the post tootle over to Audible Captions

Judge Denies Bid to Seal Settlement in Audible Captions Case - Publishers Weekly

Today as Panzer was washing the the windows of the Panzermobile he found a post stuck under the wiper blade of the windshield (windscreen). Smoothing it out, our fastidious kitty discovered it was a post about the Audible Captions copyright case. A few days ago Panzer told you about the settlement of the lawsuit, when Audible agreed not to use books without the copyright holder's permission.

So, we still don't get to see it.

According to the post by Andrew Albanese, Judge Valerie Caproni, the presiding judge in the settlement of the copyright lawsuit case against Audible Captions, has denied the parties' request to seal the settlement agreement. If the judge did let the agreement be sealed, then no one would be able to read it and find out what the actual agreement said. The judge did give the parties the opportunity to file a sealed copy with the court with redactions (parts marked out) and the reasons why those redactions shouldn't be included in the unsealed agreement.The redacted copies must be filed by February 21.

Panzer says, "So ... Don't anybody start doing the Happy Cat Dance yet. ... Nobody knows what the final agreement will look like after all the redactions."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection. If you plan to read Panzer's previous post, bring another muffin.

To read the post tootle over to Audible Captions case
To read Panzer's previous post, tootle over to Captions Settlement

In Captions Settlement, Audible Will Not Use AAP Member Content Without Permission - Publishers Weekly

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he heard clapping and cheering outside the Panzermobile. Following all the hullabaloo took our inquisitive kitty to the Publishers Weekly site. With no digging at all he found the post about the Audible Captions lawsuit that was causing all the noise. Panzer has been telling you about this lawsuit since it started.

It had to end that way.

According to the post by Andrew Albanese, the lawsuit by the American Association (AAP) against Amazon's Audible's Captions feature has been settle. Audible has requested the settlement agreement be sealed by the court. This means nobody can see the settlement except Audible and the American Association of Publishers members involved in the lawsuit. However, the Publishers Weekly post contains information from the proposed permanent injunction filed with the court which isn't under seal. According to that information Audible won't be using their Captions feature on any AAP members material without the copyright holders permission. There are several links included in the post to other information and to previous posts about the lawsuits. One of the links goes to the proposed settlement from which the post gets some of its information.

Panzer says, "The Publishers Weekly post has some other interesting information toward the end too."

This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection. If you plan to follow the links in the post, bring a gallon of tea and eight muffins.

To read the post, tootle over to Audible

To read Panzer's last post about the lawsuit, tootle over to Captions

Audible, Publishers Say They've Settled 'Captions' Lawsuit - Publishers Weekly

Details in a week? Can't wait.

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when the Panzermobile was shaken by clapping and cheering. Following all the hullabaloo took our kitty pilot to the Publishers Weekly site. With no digging at all he found a post about the Audible Captions copyright infringement lawsuit. Panzer told you a few days ago that the publishers and Audible involved in the lawsuit had petitioned the court for an extension in the case.

According to the post by Andrew Albanese, the publishers copyright infringement lawsuit against Audible Captions has been settled. No further information is available now. Both parties to the lawsuit will submit settlement documents to the court on January 21 with the details about the settlement.

Panzer says, "Inquiring kitties want to know if any money will change paws."

Note: This is a short post. Bring a cup of tea for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Audible lawsuit
To read Panzer's previous post on the lawsuit, tootle over to copyright infringement lawsuit

Court Denies Audible's Request for Settlement Conference in 'Captions' Case - Publishers Weekly

Panzer didn't post yesterday because What's His Name has a cold and Panzer has been helping Mom take care of him.

Audible didn't ask them first?

Today as Panzer was mopping the floor in the Panzermobile, he found something under the floor mat. Pulling it out, he discovered it was a post from Publishers Weekly about the court case against Audible's Captions feature. Panzer told you about the case last month.

According to Andrew Albanese's post, Judge Valerie Caproni has denied Audible's request to turn the case over to another judge for a settlement conference. The publishers in the case said they didn't believe a settlement conference would be productive and, therefore, wouldn't participate. Publishers believe Audible's Captions feature is a copyright infringement which Audible denies.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... This case just keeps dragging on."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Audible Captions case
To read Panzer's previous post, tootle over to Captions copyright infringement

Amazon's Audible's Captions' Court Case Continues

Today Panzer made a stop at the Publishers Weekly site. Digging around in the posts, our inquisitive kitty found two about the Audible Captions court case.

Both posts are by Andrew Albanese.

The first post is about the publishers' response to Audible's filing last week. In the earlier filing Audible's lawyers contended publishers gave away "their right to sue for copyright infringement" when they contracted with Audible. The publishers' lawyers responded in their filing that the defense "makes no sense" as the licensing contract doesn't give away the publishers' copyright, so Audible is guilty of copyright infringement if they publish speech to text of the publishers'  audio books.  Panzer already told you about Audible's filing.

Reading is reading. Listening is listening.

The second post is about the hearing Judge Valerie Caproni's questions for Audible's lawyers about their Fair Use defense. The judge was asking about an explanation about the reading experience of Captions. The judge did not issue an injunction yet, but did say the court case could be scheduled before the end of the year.

Panzer says, "It looks like this is one of those court cases that just keeps going on and on and on."

Note: Each of today's posts is medium length. Bring a cup of tea and two muffins for each post in today's reading selection. If you plan to follow the links in the posts, bring an extra gallon of tea and two dozen muffins.

To read the post about the publishers' response, tootle over to  Publishers' response to Captions defense

To read the post about the judge's questions, tootle over to Captions hearing judge

To read Panzer's earlier post, tootle over to Audible filings

Amazon's Audible Captions Feature New Developments - Various

Today, Panzer's afternoon nap was disrupted when he was shaken from his kitty bed and onto the floor. Jumping into the Panzermobile, our brave kitty discovered the Catosphere was full of news about Amazon's Audible Captions feature.

My work for you is never done.

First he traveled to the Publishing Perspectives site where he discovered a post by Porter Anderson. According to the post, the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) has added their support to the Association of American Publishers' (AAP) lawsuit against the Audible Captions feature for copyright infringement. Twenty-seven member publishers of the IBPA in a letter to Audible have asked to not be included in the feature until the court decision is rendered. Panzer has been posting about the Captions feature for a few weeks now.

Next he traveled to the Publishers Weekly site where he discovered a post by Andrew Albanese. According to this post, Audible will not be rolling out the full Captions feature until after the court's decision. The company will instead roll out a version with only public domain material included. Public domain material is not copyright protected and can be used by anyone.

Panzer says, "Both these posts cover the same material but from slightly different angles."

Note: The first post is a long length and the second is a long-medium length. Bring two thermoses of tea and a dozen muffins for today's reading selections.

To read the Publishing Perspectives post tootle over to Audible Captions

To read the Publishers Weekly post tootle over to Captions roll out

To read Panzer's other post about Audible Captions tootle over to Captions

Audible Will Exclude Publishers Works from Captions Program - For Now - Publishers Weekly

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he heard clapping and cheering outside. Following all the hoopla took our brave kitty to the Publishers Weekly site. With no digging at all he found a post about Audible's new Captions feature.

Did somebody finally read the contract?

The post by Andrew Albanese states, that because of the recent publishers' lawsuit against Audible the company has agreed to make certain changes to the implementation of the Captions feature. Audible will exclude the audio books of the publishers involved in the lawsuit until the court decides on certain issues in the case. The date of the case has been changed and Audible will offer additional information before the new date. Panzer told you about the lawsuit a few days ago.

Panzer says, "This little kitty thinks Audible will offer a new contract to publishers for the right for Captions to type out the words. It's like typing the words for a deaf human to read."

Note: This is a short-medium length post. Bring a cup of tea.

To read the post tootle over to Audible Captions

To read Panzer's previous post about the Captions lawsuit, tootle over to Amazon's Audible

Amazon-owned Audible sued by major book publishers over controversial text-to-speech feaure - GeekWire

Panzer was fueling up the Panzermobile when the radio started crackling and squealing. Adjusting the channel, our careful kitty pilot discovered the GeekWire site was causing all the noise. Traveling over to the site, he found a post about Audible's new Captions feature. Panzer has posted about the Captions feature several times over the last few days.

Is Captions worth the hype?

According to the post by Nat Levy, Amazon's Audible is being sued by seven major book publishers. The publishers are suing for copyright infringement. The lawsuit claims Audible's new Captions feature is not part of Audible's licensing agreement with the publishers.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... This little kitty wonders if anybody at Audible did read the license agreement."

Note: This is a short post. Bring a cup of tea for today's reading selection. If you plan to read Panzer's most recent previous post about Captions (which contains links to four other posts), bring two gallons of tea and three dozen muffins.

To read the post tootle over to Audible sued

To read the previous post tootle over to Audible Captions

Audible to give away 12 million audiobooks to settle class action lawsuit - TeleRead

Panzer was taking a well-deserved nap when he was shaken awake by clapping and cheering come from the Catosphere. Hopping into the Panzermobile out brave kitty followed all the raucous noise to the TeleRead site. There he found a post about audible.

Six months?

According to Chris Meadows of TeleRead, Audible has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit rather than go to court. The lawsuit concerns the Audible audio book credits. If a customer's credits were cancelled due to the six month time limit or because the customer cancelled their account, they qualify for the settlement. A customer can get at least one audio book based on their Audible credit circumstances. Included in the post is a link to the class action settlement notification.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... This little kitty thinks Audible should change the length of time the credits can be used too."

Note: This is a medium length post. Bring a cup of tea and a chocolate chip cookie (biscuit) for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Audible

Audio is publishing's new star as sales soar across genres - The Guardian

Today's trip into the Catosphere took our intrepid kitty traveler to The Guardian site. With some digging around in the posts, he found one about audio books.

According to James Tapper, audio book sales are rising at unexpected rates. Sales in 2017 were up 21.5 percent. The increasing sales figures in the audio book market have drawn new competition for Amazon's Audible too. Audio book popularity has inspired some agents to convince their author clients to release their fiction and nonfiction books in audio book format only. It appears audio books may be the newest thing to take a bite out of traditional book publishing sales right behind ebooks.

What do you of my face on the cover?

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Is there a market for kitty narrated audio books?"

Note: This is a long post. Bring a cup of tea and two muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to audio books

Did Amazon's Audible inadvertently create the current royalties mess by incentivizing listeners to skip forward in the audibook? - The Hot Sheet reviewed. First edition - The New Publishing Standard

When Panzer got into the Panzermobile today he found a wadded up post under his pilot's seat. Smoothing it out our fastidious kitty discovered it was a post from The New Publishing Standard site which is a review of a The Hot Sheet post. The post is about Amazon's Audible subscription service.

In the The New Publishing Standard post Mark Williams quotes extensively from the March The Hot Sheet post about Amazon's Audible romance audiobook subscription service royalties schedule and author payment issues. In between the quoted material he inserts his opinions regarding the issues raised in The Hot Sheet post. According to the information contained in the March post, the payment rate was so abysmal authors were leaving the subscription service. Audible then decided to add a bonus for authors; however, no information was made available about how the bonuses were calculated. The post addresses other issues with the unlimited subscription service. There are links included in the post to other sites with information about the romance subscription service.

A fraction of a cent? Humans.

Panzer says, "Umm ... This little kitty is totally confused. Why would an author agree to a contract where you only make one one-thousandth of a cent per minute?"

Note: This is a h-u-m-o-n-g-o-u-s post. Bring a thermos of tea and four muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon's Audible