N Enterprise version of iBooks Author

ibooks-author

Apple's licensing terms for iBooks Author are quite restrictive towards the distribution of work: They require the output of iBooks Author to be distributed only through Apple's retail operation.

How can this work for business that create content using iBooks Author? If you export your book as a PDFs to sell for a Kindle, it would be against the licensing terms.

Thus, I'm asking:
Is there a version of iBooks Author with adequate licensing terms for enterprise?

Here's the extract (iBooks Author 1.0 licence agreement section 2.B.)

Distribution of your Work. As a condition of this Licence and provided you are in compliance with its terms, your Work may be distributed as follows:

  1. if your Work is provided for free (at no charge), you may distribute the Work by any available means;
  2. if your Work is provided for a fee […], you may only distribute the Work though Apple […]

Best Answer

The restrictions only apply to the .ibooks format.

From the iBooks Author Publishing and Distribution FAQ of 2/7/12:

Are there any restrictions on the distribution of works produced with iBooks Author?

If a fee is charged for the work and it is in the .ibooks format, the work may only be sold through the iBookstore. If the work is in a different format, such as PDF or ePub, this restriction does not apply.

Here's the relevant part of the updated license agreement regarding the distribution of work:

(i) if the work is provided for free [...], you may distribute it by any means;

(ii) if the work is provided for a fee [...] and included files in the .ibooks format [...], the work may only be distributed through Apple, [...], however, that this restriction will not apply to the content of the work when distributed in a form that does not include files in the .ibooks format [...]. You retain all your rights in the content of your works, and you may distribute such content by any means when it does not include files in the .ibooks format [...].

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