With schools closing around the world and districts racing to develop remote learning programs, educators have been asking about permissions and processes for posting live and recorded read-aloud videos and sound files. So far, official permission and guidelines have been issued by:
Amazon Publishing
Books published by Two Lions and Amazon Crossing Kids may be read aloud online, on the condition that all videos are deleted by June 30. Educators, librarians, and booksellers should send an email to globalrights@amazon.com with their name, school/library/store, city, state, and the title, author, and illustrator of the book, along with a description of your planned reading. The reading may be displayed only in the private online classroom setting or approved social media live channels. No archival copies may be posted without written permission. The publisher is asking that videos containing their books that appear on social media be tagged @amazonpublishing.
Abrams
Educators may read Abrams books online to students and participants, and post videos to private platforms with limited access, subject to the publisher’s guidelines. Video’s should be deleted by June 30. They ask that you send an email to permissions@abramsbooks.com with your name, school, city, state, the title and author/illustrator of the book(s) you would like to read online, as well as a follow-up email with a link to your video once you’ve read it. Any bookseller or librarian event may not be maintained in the archive of the social media platform used.
Candlewick
Librarians, teachers, parents, caregivers, and the clergy are allowed to read any Candlewick Press title to a closed virtual audience, but cannot archive or save the readings.
Charlesbridge Publishing invites teachers and librarians “interested in recording a read along for remote classroom learning via zoom or another internal/private communication channel during the COVID-19 crisis” to email them for permissions.
Harry Potter
JK Rowling posted an open license for teachers to post read-aloud videos of themselves on secure networks and closed educational platforms.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Educators and librarians are permitted to post and share audio and video recordings and livestreams of readalouds of HMH trade titles through June 30, subject to publisher guidelines. They have also granted blanket permission to authorized users of their K-12 Instructional Materials, in all forms and media, also through June 30.
Additionally, HMH has launched #HomewithHMH, a campaign to support teachers, librarians, and parents, which includes free weekly e-newsletter featuring “fun and educational content including activity guides, coloring pages, author/illustrator videos, and educator guides.” Resources are available on the HMH Children’s website.
Little Brown Children’s
They posted “a few short guidelines” for permissioned online educational reads.
Macmillan
“With many schools around the country closed, and more closing daily, Macmillan wants to support teachers, librarians and parents as they work to keep their students and children engaged with reading and learning via virtual classrooms and other forms of remote learning. During this emergency and when their schools are closed, we have no objection to: (1) teachers and librarians live streaming or posting videos reading our children’s books to their students, provided it is done on a noncommercial basis and (2) authors live streaming or posting videos reading their children’s books, provided it is done on a noncommercial basis.”
Penguin Random House
The publisher is permitting teachers, librarians and booksellers to create and share story time and read-aloud videos and live events, according to their posted guidelines.
Quirk Books
The publisher is extending an open license to select titles through June 30, subject to their posted conditions.
Scholastic
The publisher said, “We want to support these efforts and have given permission for our books to be read online, with select guidelines in regard to platform, notice, and duration of availability.” Their guidelines have not been posted online, but this letter to teachers is accurate.
Simon & Schuster
Teachers, librarians and booksellers are permitted to conduct livestreams, and post readings of Simon & Schuster children’s books for students and customers, subject to the terms and conditions posted on the Simon & Schuster website.
Sourcebooks
The publisher has granted permission “to temporarily create and post readings of Sourcebooks titles to closed educational platforms such as Google Classroom, Schoology, Edmodo, and Discovery Education until the end of the school year, upon which the videos should be removed from the relevant platforms.” Additionally, people may read and live stream Sourcebooks titles on YouTube, Facebook Live, Instagram Live, Twitter, “or other live streaming platforms that are available to a closed school network” and leave the videos up for a 24-hour period.
Star Bright Books
The publisher is granting permissions for their books to be used for read-aloud videos.
Zonderkidz/Zondervan/HarperCollins Christian
Tommy Nelson and Zonderkidz have granted permission for titles to be read online through the end of the school year, subject to the publisher’s terms.
Storytime Initiatives
And here are some of the many prominent storytime initiatives online:
Random House Children’s, Penguin Children’s and Parents Magazine present READ TOGETHER, BE TOGETHER, daily virtual storytimes, starting Monday March 23 at 3:00 PM Eastern — with bestselling and award-winning authors and illustrators, and celebrity readers. The first week features readings by Misty Copeland, Danica McKellar, Tiffani Thiessen and Brady Smith, Scott Kelly, and B. J. Novak.
Other celebrity initiatives include @savewithstories (on Instagram and Facebook); Storylineonline.net (from the Screen Actors Guild Foundation); and #OperationStoryTime (on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube), plus @PenguinKids on Instagram and PRH’s @ReadBrightly on Instagram.