Apple clarifies iBooks Author EULA with latest update
Since its unveiling last month, there has been a fair amount of controversy surrounding Apple’s iBooks Author – more specifically its EULA (end user license agreement), which some critics interpreted as saying that anything created with the free eBook authoring tool could only be sold in one place – the iBookstore.
Much of the controversy centered around the following text from the EULA, which some felt claimed rights to the content of authors’ work, and therefore restricted them from selling on other marketplaces such as Amazon’s Kindle Store:
“If you charge a fee for any book or other work you generate using this software (a “Work”), you may only sell or distribute such Work through Apple (e.g., through the iBookstore) and such distribution will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple.”
Others argued that Apple was only placing the selling restriction on the format of the work, not the content, and it turns out that this was indeed the case. Late yesterday the Cupertino Company released iBooks Author version 1.0.1, with the only changes being made to the EULA.
The text quoted above now reads:
“If you want to charge a fee for a work that includes files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author, you may only sell or distribute such work through Apple, and such distribution will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple. This restriction does not apply to the content of such works when distributed in a form that does not include files in the .ibooks format.”
So, to clarify, the only restriction applies to selling eBooks saved in the .ibooks format – which can only be viewed on an iPad running iBooks anyway! Authors can choose to their sell their work on other marketplaces in formats such as pdf – which is an export option in iBooks Author, or as an ePub – tools to convert pdf to ePub are readily available on the Mac App Store.
What do you think of the EULA update? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below.
[Via Ars Technica]
