Apple Updates, Clarifies iBooks Author EULA

B. Distribution of Works Generated Using the iBooks Author Software. As a condition of this
License and provided you are in compliance with its terms, works generated using iBooks
Author may be distributed as follows:
(i) if the work is provided for free (at no charge), you may distribute it by any means;
(ii) if the work is provided for a fee (including as part of any subscription-based product or
service) and includes files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author, the work
may only be distributed through Apple, and such distribution will be subject to a separate
written agreement with Apple (or an Apple affiliate or subsidiary); provided, however, that
this restriction will not apply to the content of the work when distributed in a form that
does not include files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author.
You retain
all your rights in the content of your works, and you may distribute such content by any
means when it does not include files in the .ibooks format generated by iBooks Author.

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.

This is the clause in question. The update lets the end user know that Apple only limits fee-based distribution  in the .ibooks format and not the content if the user wants to distribute it in another format. So, Apple claims no rights over the content of iBooks created with iBook Author.

But a close reading may expose a problem. The phrase “does not include files in the .ibooks format generated by iBooks Author” appears twice in that paragraph. The “.ibooks format” is really just an archive container that contains the user’s content as HTML files, so it seems that re-using that HTML may violate the EULA. Even if  that isn’t the case, the modified terms of the EULA still make the iBooks environment a closed silo that is easy enough to get into, but difficult to get back out again.

 

Twitter Updates for 2012-02-03

  • Grrr, it was supposed to be an easy win… Of course THAT never works out. #
  • @sglassmeyer No one did, it was imported from Wikipedia. see http://t.co/BESNgtEY for some details. #
  • @sglassmeyer No problem. Remembering EVERYTHING that's on the Internet and where it came from is what I'm all about. #
  • "Where games offer the pleasure of mastery, narrative offers the pleasure of surrender." http://t.co/uHxHafe5 #
  • @montserratlj @caliorg Don't know of e-reader specific, but some discussion on teknoids in Sept of incoming 1L tech: http://t.co/O2cXVEJ5 #
  • @montserratlj @caliorg Anecdotal evidence says 35-40% of 1Ls entered law school in Fall of 2011 with an e-reader or tablet of some sort. #
  • @montserratlj @caliorg Sure. #
  • Call for Speakers – Conference for Law School Computing – 2012 | teknoids http://t.co/qS3SVhYz @teknoids @caliorg #CALIcon12 #

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