Sunday, February 15, 2009
The U.S. Authors Guild announced on Friday that the new role of the electronic book from Amazon, Kindle 2, read aloud, provide a "significant challenge" for the publishing industry.
"We are studying this issue closely and keep them informed," the guild said in a message to its members on its website authorsguild.org.
"This presents a significant challenge for the publishing industry," said the union on Thursday, noting that sales of audio books exceeded 1000 million U.S. dollars in 2007.
The union warned its members to ensure that the use made of the rights of Amazon books was part of his contract with the publishers.
"While the matter is resolved, Amazon may be undermining its market while exploiting their audio e-books," he added.
"Combining e-books with audio books was something that was discussed at length in the industry," said the message. "It's a good idea, but should not be conducted by a distributor of electronic books."
Amazon launched the Kindle 2 in a press conference in New York on Monday. Besides being thinner and faster than the previous model, the Kindle 2, a slim electronic tablet which can store about 1,500 titles in less than 300 grams, also has a function of reading aloud.
