EBooks/eLibraries just seemed to be the most natural thing for the Internet when I first got on...you could type in a book anywhere on the Net and anyone, any time, anywhere, and the rest of history could get it out.
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Anjali Thomas in conversation with Michael S Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg
What made you start Project Gutenberg in 1971, and what was the initial response?
EBooks/eLibraries just seemed to be the most natural thing for the Internet when I first got on...you could type in a book anywhere on the Net and anyone, any time, anywhere, and the rest of history could get it out, free of charge.
It took so little time, money and effort on my part, well, ALL my time, money and effort, but compared to what the result is, the cost-benefit ratio is just amazing!
The initial response was about six per cent of all the people I knew on the Net, which was larger than I expected. Obviously, that first file has now been downloaded, copied, re-edited, etc, by millions, if not a billion readers.
How important is copyright today? Can we foresee a world in which books are available without copyright?
The major purpose of copyright today is to keep people from getting any information without paying for it. This is even more true for me, here in the US, than in India
where copyright terms haven't been extended so much.
Here, I now have a copyright system: The Supreme Court has ruled that copyright will be extendable as many times, for as many years. That means Mickey Mouse and Winnie The Pooh, etc will never go into the public domain. Hundred years ago, about half of all copyrights had expired; 100 years from now, not even one per cent of copyright will have expired.
Since the publishers control copyright terms through lobbies and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), there is no chance for your, "world in which books are available without copyright" unless there are major, major changes.
Do you think Project Gutenberg will do for the publishing industry what Apple's iTunes and even Napster did for the music industry?
In the long run, I think Project Gutenberg will do even more. I think eBooks will change civilisation the way the Gutenberg Press created a revolution in literacy and
education, the Scientific Revolution, and eventually a brand new "Neo-Industrial Revolution" when computers with printers that make 3-D solid object allowing anyone to make anything.
Do you get writers approaching Project Gutenberg with their works directly?
Yes, about 2 per cent of our eBooks are from copyrighted sources.
What does the future hold for Project Gutenberg?
A one billion eBook freely downloadable library. Here's how:
There are about 25 million public domain books in the world.
There are about 100 languages with a million plus speakers.
If we do just 40 per cent of the books. . .that is 10 million books.
If we do just 40 per cent of languages. . .that is 100 languages.
10 million books translated into 100 languages gives a world
public library of one billion books!!!
That is my current goal. . . .
As of this July 4, Project Gutenberg will be joining with The World Public Library, The Internet Archive and Digital Pulp Publishing to offer one million eBooks via the World eBook Fair.
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