UK's Society of Authors: More Clarity in Spotify Terms - Publishing Perspectives

It just keeps spreading.

Today Panzer made a stop at the Publishing Perspectives site. There he found a post about Findaway Voices and Spotify's Terms of Use. Your favorite traveling kitty told you about the Findaway Voices and Spotify Terms of Use (TOU) upset explained in the Writer Beware (R) post on Tuesday.

 

Porter Anderson's Publishing Perspectives post explains the UK's Society of Authors take on that same Terms of Use. Specifically, the Society wants more clarity and assurance about AI training and also that authors' work won't be used without permission. The post includes the Society's itemized list of what needs to be clarified and or agreed to.

 

Panzer says, "This little kitty thinks this AI training use of writers work without permission is starting to sound like the Internet Archive lawsuit. You know how that ended."

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a glass of milk and a piece of apple pie for today's snack.

To read the post tootle over to Spotify Terms of Use

To read Panzer's earlier post tootle over to Findaway Voices

Outrage Over New Terms of Use at Findaway Voices Forces Change - Writer Beware(R)

You need to be very careful now.

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to the Writer Beware (R) site. With hardly any digging at all in the posts there our diligent kitty boy found one about Findaway Voices and owner Spotify. This is a follow-up post about an earlier problem with writers/creators losing right to stop AI from "learning" their works through Findaway Voices' Terms of Use.

 

In her post Victoria Strauss does a deep dive into the Findaway Voices' Terms of Use (TOU). She explains different sections of TOU which have been changed and why. There are also details about areas which are still a little confusing and could be better clarified. The post includes links to other earlier posts and to information about Findaway Voices.

Panzer says, "This shows two things: 1) If enough people complain and make enough noise, you can get things changed, and, 2) Always read the Terms of Use."

Note: This is a long post. You'll need to decide what to bring to snack on while you read.

 

To read the post tootle over to Findaway Voices

Spotify tries to win indie authors by cutting audiobook fees - The Verge

Today, Panzer made a trip to The Verge site. There our inquisitive kitty boy found a post about Spotify and Findaway Voices. You may remember Panzer told you when Spotify bought Findaway last year.

 

Just wondering.

According to the post by Amrita Khalid, Findaway has announced it will no longer charge a distribution fee to indie authors who use Finaway Voices to upload their audiobooks to Spotify and make sales there. The post includes a link to the original Findaway announcement.

 

Panzer says, "This little kitty never did understand why Findaway Voices charged to upload to its parent company."

 

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

 

To read the post tootle over to Findaway Voices

Findaway Voices, Machine Learning and the New Rights Frontier - Writer Beware(R) - Update

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to the Writer Beware (R) site. There with a tiny bit of digging in the posts our inquisitive kitty found what he was looking for. It's an update to a post by Victoria Strauss Panzer told you about last week.

In last week's Writer Beware (R) post she told you about the clause in the Findaway Voices contract which allowed Apple to use author's audio books to train Apple's AI to do audible books.

One visit was all it took.

The new post includes an important update about that contract clause. After audio book narrator members complained to SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) about the contract clause, the group contacted and met with Findaway. It was brought to Findaway's attention, that the contract could not force authors to sign away narrators rights without proper negotiations with the narrators union. Findaway agreed to remove the clause.

 

Panzer says, "That didn't take long to fix."

 

Note:This is a long post. Bring a large cup of cocoa and a big muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the updated post tootle over to Findaway Voices

 

Findaway Voices, Machine Learning, and the New Frontier - Writer Beware

Today, Panzer made a stop at the Writer Beware site. There he found a post about Findaway Voices and Apple that had him shaking his kitty head in disbelief.

 

It's hidden in the contract? Not good.

According to Victoria Strauss' post, Findaway Voices has had a clause hidden in their contract that users had no knowledge of. When you sign a contract with Findaway you're giving them the right to give your audio book to Apple for machine learning purposes. Apparently, this has been part of the contract since 2019. There are several links included in the post to other information.

 

Panzer says, "Be sure and read the Comments section. There is some interesting information about what happens if you opt-out."

 

Note: This is a long post. Bring a cup of cocoa, a muffin and two chocolate chip cookies (biscuits) for your reading. If you follow the included links, you'll need to decide what to bring to eat and drink.

 

To read the post tootle over to Findaway

ACX vs Findaway Voices: A Complete Review - Kindlepreneur

Today Panzer made a trip to the Kindlepreneur site. With a little digging in the posts he found one about audio book platforms ACX and Findaway Voices.

 

I can't decide which one I want.

The post by Jason Hamilton is a comprehensive comparison between ACX and Findaway Voices. It compares everything from costs to distribution you'll need to know to make your choice for the best fit for your audio book production and distribution. There's a Table of Contents for the different sections of the post.

 

Panzer says, "This is definitely worth your time to read the whole post."

 

Note: This is a very, very l-o-n-g post. Bring a thermos of tea, one muffin, one chocolate chip cookie (biscuits), and a brownie for today's reading selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to ACX vs Findaway Voices