iBooks Author, Apple’s new app that allows you to create your own interactive e-books, recently introduced to you here at CanoeTech, has generated many oohs and ahhs, but it’s the End User License Agreement (EULA) that seems to have caused quite a stir.
The idea behind iBooks Author is that you can use it to create books and distribute them through the iBookstore. The EULA says that if your creations are given away, you can do so as you wish; but if you are charging for them, you have to do it through Apple and pay them a cut with additional strings attached.
Here is an excerpt:
“If you charge a fee for any book or other work you generate using this software (a “Work”), you may only sell or distribute such Work, through Apple (e.g. through the iBookstore) and such distribution will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple.”
The agreement then goes on:
“B. Distribution of your Work. As a condition of this License and provided you are in compliance with its terms, your Work may be distributed as follows:
(i) If your Work is provided for free (at no charge), you may distribute the Work by any available means;
(ii) If your Work is provided for a fee (including as part of any subscription-based product or service), you may only distribute the Work through Apple and such distribution is subject to the following limitations and conditions: (a) you will be required to enter into a separate written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary) before any commercial distribution of your Work may take place; and (b) Apple may determine for any reason and in its sole discretion not to select your Work for distribution.”
So basically, it says that if your book, or “work” as they call it, is created with iBooks Author and has a price tag on it, you can’t sell it on your own site nor send it off to Amazon, Kobo and the like. It has to go through Apple.
There is no detail as to what the separate agreement is all about; it just mentions that there is one.
Now I’m not a lawyer, but from what I see and from what I have read, “work” refers to the final product, not the content. My interpretation is that you are not precluded from selling “the content” elsewhere, you just can’t sell any finished product that was created with iBooks Author.
In fact MacRumours, did issue a post clarifying that it’s the output format generated by iBooks Author and not the content, which Apple is claiming exclusive rights to.
People Don’t Like Being Restricted
There are a number of people who have issues with the whole concept, but one of the biggest beefs is about the restrictions imposed on the creator.
It seems that people don’t like to be told how and where they can sell their work and are unhappy that they are required to have an exclusive arrangement with Apple and not allow anyone else to distribute it.
Ed Bott (The Ed Bott Report) on the ZDNet Mobile blog, who seems to make a point of reading all EULAs, called this one “mind-bogglingly greedy and evil,” comparing it to Microsoft saying that you need to pay out 30% of your speaking fees if you used a PowerPoint deck in a speech.
Bott even quotes others like Dan Wineman, who says, “It’s akin to Microsoft trying to restrict what people can do with Word documents, or Adobe declaring that if you use Photoshop to export a JPG, you can’t freely sell it to Getty (Images).”
Now I might tend to fully agree if you were actually paying for the app.
Basically my take is that Apple is saying that we’re giving you this nice little easy to use tool to make beautiful books, for free, but if you want to profit (money-wise) from it, we’d like a piece of the pie.
It’s Business
Frankly, I can’t see anything really wrong with that; they’re in the business to make a buck – or maybe billions as the case is.
In fact, if you were a shareholder, which I’m not at this time, you’d be a happy camper today. Apple stock was up over 26 bucks today on the news that they had yet another record quarter, with net profits exceeding $13 billion. And even after some poo-pooed the iPhone 4S and its predecessors, they still managed to sell 37 million of them. I digress.
Although, with that said, perhaps there should be fewer restrictions on PDF output as it appears – I haven’t tried it extensively, but I suspect it would not have the same wow factor as the actual Author format.
Now Bott does bring up some really good points. Specifically, referring to the clause that says that Apple has the right to reject your work and they won’t be responsible if it costs you.
“Apple will not be responsible for any costs, expenses, damages, losses (including without limitation lost business opportunities or lost profits) or other liabilities you may incur as a result of your use of this Apple Software, including without limitation the fact that your Work may not be selected for distribution by Apple.”
Now this means that if they do, you’re stuck with a white elephant – perhaps a little unfair.
Remember to Read EULA First
Bott also picks up on the fact that unless you specifically read the license agreement, which I’m sure very few do, you’re not reminded of the EULA until you are ready to publish – which I agree can be an eye opener after you’ve spent countless hours on your work.
While there seems to be a lot of controversy out there, not everyone is down on it. Some just say that’s the price of doing business; others look at it as an opportunity to easily create masterpieces that can take advantage of the power of the iPad. And the iBookstore is not a bad place to distribute.
This is version 1.0. The rules just might be different for 2.0.
What do you think? What’s your take on the EULA issue?
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Greg Gazin is the Real Canadian Gadget Guy.
Follow me on Twitter @gadgetgreg.
Tags: apple, iBooks Author, licensing
Can you say, “Fascism”? This company has become so high on itself it’s pathetic. Talk about arrogant. Typical American mentality…
Mike, be sure to READ THE ACTUAL AGREEMENT BEFORE OPENING YOUR MOUTH – there’s nothing in there which lends itself to “fascism” in any form.
Apple is protecting the integrity of their proprietary distribution channels – NOT THE COPYRIGHT OF THE WORK.
“Typical American mentality…” – straight from the mouth of a typical uneducated fool who read one article and formed a baseless opinion.
Great article – I was looking for information about this so that I could make an informed decision about whether to publish via this format or not.
Reading the EULA is important, I agree (South Park, anyone?) – know what you are getting into. I plan to review all 8,000,000 pages of it when I’m ready to publish my book
Apple provides an amazing new technology to allow authors to create content in a way that has never been seen before. As someone who is currently creating an ebook and found this software, I think its terrific, innovative and better than absolutely anything else out there. How fortunate are we to have this kind of technology available at our fingertips? It offers authors a tool to create incredibly formatted content in a quick manner and is made accessible to millions of potential buyers. This is way better than the seemingly rinky-dink .PDF format that has been previously used. Which do you think will sell better (rhetorical).
Apple has invested boatloads of money (all that profit they make that everyone is so upset about) to create this software and the OS to handle them etc. Finally, they offer a better end-user experience FOR YOU. Part of that investment is recouped in the fee the author pays to have their content made available to MILLIONS of people who would otherwise not have access to this content via the App Store. Think about how powerful the iTunes/App Store community is and how many people can access the content through this format. It’s a simple case of margin vs. volume and I’m happy to spend the time putting this together (and I’m a very busy person – it’s not like I have time to waste) because I see the value in what Apple is allowing me to do. I’ll gladly leverage off the countless hours and dollars they have invested into creating this software to reach more potential buyers and create better content.
Further, if I published my material via a traditional paperback publisher (how ‘last year’), I’d have to pay them, a graphic designer, a book agent, etc. to create and promote my materials. It’s the cost of doing business in 2012. I see this as a big savings for me, actually.
Regarding content being rejected, if you invest time and/or money in creating content and Apple doesn’t want to sell it, it means you have to go back to the drawing board. Create better content because Apple wants your stuff to sell so that you AND Apple can make money. Apple is just telling you that your stuff is crappy and they don’t want a piece of it. Sorry.
It’s the price you pay to play (i.e. to make a lot of money selling your content), and read the EULA to decide if its right for you. If you don’t like it, publish a .PDF and sell it to a few dozen people.
Makes perfect sense to me.
As has happened often in the last few years, Apple is guilty of doing the things that it accuses other makers of computers and software of doing.
Apple is like Madonna. Mediocre product, but amazing business acumen and advertising.
You couldn’t pay me to use an Apple product. Once upon a time they were everything they said they were, but over the years they have slid back to being just equal with PC’s, while PC makers and software programmers have done everything they could to reach the bar that Apple had originally set. I know professional graphic artists that use both Mac’s and PC’s, and at this point in time, they are virtually identical in ease of use and final product. The bar Apple once set so high no longer exists.
People need to stop being victims. If you are going to use software from products that force you to use or market in dictated ways you don’t agree with, its your own fault for not making sure of the stated contract.
If you absolutely must use a program that Apple made to state you are too stupid for words and are unable to create for yourself, well you get what you pay for.
It’s been known for years that Apple is currently, and has always been, a bigger monopoly than Microsoft. Apple’s ‘customer care’ is a joke and they treat people like idiots. They’re management team is rude and simply impossible to actually work with (working ‘for’ is even harder).
Years ago I was a product manager for a tech company. We wanted to license the iPhone connector for one of our keyboards. Apple wouldn’t grant us a license because we didn’t have a working prototype. Fair enough so we started building one. Apple came after us claiming it’s illegal to create a working prototype with their connector unless you have a license. That’s the sort of backwards thinking this company is really known for.
It’s time for people to ‘think different’ again… buy Android.
All of this is moot.
iTunes is approaching monopoly status for distriution of music. Once they hit 80 percent market share, various governments will sue them and iTunes will be officially declared a monopoly.
And then watch the wheels fall off. Ask Microsoft how hard it is to bundle anything with a product that is an official monopoly. If Apple had to play by same rules the court imposed on MS, they would be singing a different song.
Apple are the absolute kings at bundling exclusive product into iTunes. And their turn before the various anti-trust courts of the world will come as a result. This is the exact kind of thing that would have seen MS dragged before a judge. iTunes is not a monoply now. But once it is declared one, attempts to control formats like this one will become illegal for them.
The guys at Apple better enjoy it while they have it.
I’m not certain what all of the hoopla is about Apple offering software that creates ebooks. There’s been free and open source software for years allowing for this; why is it news when Apple finally creates their own version of it?
Creating an ePUB remains an open and simple way to create any document for every e-reader on the market, from tablets to cell phones to eInk. You still have to apply to Apple/Amazon/Kobo or any other online publisher to actually sell the file, so really the only difference between Apple’s new publishing model and what has always been there is that they get the right of first refusal on your own artistic creation.
I’ll stick with the traditional model, thanks.
Thanks for these guidelines