"[T]he library would be "the digital equivalent of the Library of Congress…bringing millions of books and digitized material in other media within clicking distance of public libraries, high schools, colleges, universities, retirement communities, and any individual with access to the Internet."
The project would "digitize all books in the public domain (no longer in copyright) as well as so-called orphan books (those published between 1923 and 1964 for which no copyright owner can be found)."
"Darnton hopes that bipartisan support in Congress may eventually lead to some sort of accommodation or change to copyright laws that would allow more books still in copyright to become part of the digital library. Innovative technological solutions that enable limiting the number of loaned copies of books in digital form may also play a role in facilitating a digital public lending library."
Other countries are ahead on this. The Dutch, for example, are on course to digitize every Dutch book, newspaper, and pamphlet from 1470 to the present.
This activity will put new pressure on copyright, particularly of books, given that ebooks may replace hard copies for most readers. They are much cheaper but can still be profitable for authors when the publishers cut is eliminated.
