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Archived - Bailey, Charles
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As a blind person, I find it impossible to obtain an accessible copy of a book in a reasonable time. At present, if I learn of a book I would like to read, I must hope that a commercial producer of talking books decides to make either a condensed or full length copy of my book. If a commercial producer sees the prospect of enough sales to produce a talking copy of my book, a condensed copy will be more expensive than the print copy, and the full length copy will be much more expensive than the print copy. And in either case, it will be months before a talking book is available. If I decide I cannot afford either of these options, or, in the event that the book I want to read isn't one of the extremely few books that are ever recorded, I must hope that the CNIB can be persuaded to produce an audible copy of the book. I can then borrow it at no cost, but it will be many months at least, perhaps a year, before it will be available.
I would like to see the copyright laws changed to encourage, even force, book publishers to make an electronic version of a book available at the same time, and at the same cost as the print version. This would allow me, and thousands like me, to purchase the electronic version, download it, and reproduce it in a format that is accessible to me, speech. There are concerns that such a system would lead to abuses, and a proliferation of illegally obtained and/or produced books. To be fair, some abuses will undoubtedly occur; they always do. But there is no reason to think that the incidence of such abuses should be any greater than the abuses that occur at present. There is nothing to stop me from purchasing a print copy of a book, scanning it into my computer, and either making copies for friends, or simply uploading it for anyone who wishes to copy it.
Such a change would actually open a whole new market to publishers. At present, blind people simply do not purchase books. There are thousands of blind individuals who would suddenly be able to purchase books, at the time of release, and be able to access them in the format of their choice.
Charles Bailey
Abbotsford,
British Columbia
