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Originally Posted by Elfwreck
Does this mean that authors could give readers permission to bypass DRM for their books, regardless of what the publisher has done with them? The author is the copyright *owner*, even if he's sold distribution rights to someone else.
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That's a very interesting question. But even if the author is willing to give such permission, it might jeopardize their relationship with the publisher, which few authors would be willing to do.
Here's section 6 of the new LOC ruling:
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(6) Literary works distributed in ebook format when all existing ebook editions of the work (including digital text editions made available by authorized entities) contain access controls that prevent the enabling either of the book’s read-aloud function or of screen readers that render the text into a specialized format.
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This looks intended to refer specifically to accessibility for the visually impaired, and that could be very relevant if someone needed to mount a "fair use" defense. (Remember, "fair use" is something that only comes up if one is actually sued. At least in the US.) But it would be very interesting if someone defended their removal of DRM on the grounds that they wanted to have the text read to them while driving, and no "read-aloud" versions were available.
(Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer of any kind, only an interested observer.)