Audible has announced its intention to “subtitle” its audiobooks, but publishers are calling it a rights violation. What’s going on? CEO Angela Bole explains what steps IBPA is taking to protect its membership.

• Angela Bole and host Peter Goodman discuss the latest turn in the injunction against Audible initiated by some of the country’s largest publishers.
• Why should publishers be concerned?
• What’s happening in the court case?
• How did this all get started?
• What’s been the IBPA response?

Links

Publishing Perspectives detailed article on the lawsuit, the IBPA letter, and the publishers requesting exclusion from the Captions program.
https://publishingperspectives.com/2019/09/ibpa-backs-us-publishers-association-in-objections-to-audible-captions/

IBPA’s own source of news and updates on the Audible lawsuit.
https://www.ibpa-online.org/news/467194/Updated-IBPA-Seeks-Information-from-Members-Interested-in-Exclusion-from-Audible-Captions.htm

Participants

Angela Bole is chief executive officer of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), the largest book publishing association in the U.S. serving independent publishers and self-published authors.

Prior to joining IBPA, Angela served two years as deputy executive director of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG), an organization that fosters conversation and consensus across all sectors of the book business. Before that, she served two years as BISG’s associate director and two years as its marketing and communications manager.

Angela holds a Masters of Science in Book Publishing from New York University and currently serves on the board of directors for the Book Industry Study Group. In 2017, she was awarded the Book Industry Study Group’s Industry Champion Award, given to an individual whose efforts have gone beyond the requirements of his or her position to advance the book industry.

Peter Goodman (host) is publisher of Stone Bridge Press in Berkeley, California. He began his publishing career in Tokyo, Japan, in 1976. A longtime member of IBPA, he has served on the IBPA board and as IBPA board chair.

For more information, go to IBPA at https://www.ibpa-online.org/.