Sometimes we all
miss the launch of something and its only when someone discovers it do some of
the ramifications come home and the service become ‘news’. We were alerted to a
piece in Publishers Weekly ‘1DollarScan Takes Service to Cloud, Authors Guild Worried’
So who and what is
1DollarScan?
The company is
based in San Jose and operates under a Japanese company Bookscan. The object of
its service is to offer consumers the ability to digitise their books for a
'cent a page' making a 200 page book digital for just 2 dollars, or less than
the cost of the postage to 1DollarScan. The book is destroyed in the process,
which first cuts the spine, then using high-speed Canon scanners,
with optical-character recognition, scans and OCRs the content turning it
into a PDF file, which can be read on literally a host of devices.
So what’s the
difference with scanning your own books using standard off the shelf
equipment and software and creating digital copies using1DollarScan?
What’s the difference between copying a CD to create a MP3 file or taping a TV
programme to create a digital copy? The reality is that the day is fast
approaching when everyone will be able to do it themselves effectively at home
and this service is just offering the economies of scale and scope. If the consumer
only uses the files for their own use it is ‘fair use.’
The service may be
taken up by many people wanting to clear their shelves, or it may fail just as
other smart ideas, which no one really wanted. However, the challenge is how we
would regulate such a service? 1DollarScan claim that they will ensure consumer
self validate their usage and that they will also provide an opt in/out service
for the owner of the copyright. From the outside and without the detail it is
hard to say how this will work, but given that they will know nothing about the
copyright against the titles they are scanning, it would appear half baked and
some would suggest 'aiding and abetting' potential infringement.
Do 1DollarScan
retain an archive of the files and if so, are these fair use or
an infringement?
If 100 requests for
the same title are scanned, they will distributed the 100 PDF files to 100
people with little or no control over their future use. They will be
effectively 'open files' which would be relatively easy to covert to other
formats and trade. The files will once again fall under DMCA Safe
habour protection for any trading services that unwittingly got involved
and the owner of the copyright will have to search, and issue take down
notices.
When Google scanned
books the process was restricted to one body. With this service there could be
literally hundreds of the same files in circulation and onus is on the owner to
ensure that they are not being traded and infringing copyright.
The challenge is
that 1DollarScan will not be the first nor will they be the last service offer
and the digitisation cost is going only one way. Without a rights registry we
remain a rights industry that some would say is walking backwards into a
digital world.
Related :
Publishers Weekly ‘1DollarScan Takes Service to Cloud, Authors Guild Worried’
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