Apple Will Own Your Work With iBooks Author

world-shaker:

coolcatteacher:

Beware, your work is not yours. Free is never free. You give Apple all syndication rights to the content you develop in iBooks Author.

The title’s a bit misleading. In layman’s terms: If you use iBooks Author, the book you create with iBooks Author can only be sold through the iBooks store. Apple doesn’t “own” the copyright to your work, just the commercial distribution rights. Use of the software is optional, and works created in iBooks Author can always be distributed anywhere, free of charge. Not a terrible trade-off for a well-designed, easy to use, free piece of software.

I disagree. It effectively strangles authors who write for a living, instructional designers who create course materials…well, basically anyone who might get paid to create an interactive text book. Why? iBooks is a closed ecosystem. 

I’m glad that Apple has started the ball rolling, but we really need a platform-agnostic etextbook creation and consumption method.

No, Apple doesn’t own the copyright to your work. But you are tied exclusively to their devices, their store, and their approval method. This is a huge problem if you rely on a variety of channels for income, or if your clients don’t use iPads.