HOW TO FIND BOOKS TO DIGITIZE
Our House Treasures is constantly finding books to digitize. We also have books not yet digitized in our own library. But, in general, we have to go searching for books of interest and availability. This includes finding public domain books and books currently under copyright to digitize. Let me explain…
PUBLIC DOMAIN BOOKS
The most accessible books to digitize are finding those in the public domain. See Copyright Law of the United States and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code (May 2021), which are all works published in the United States up to and including 1923.
- Searching for these books takes patience but can also be fun! Our staff visits local antique and vintage bookstores and shops. We attend local and regional Friends of the Library books sales. We purposely stop and shop at out-of-the-way sources while travelling.
- Digitizing and then selling a public domain ebook requires conducting legitimate research. First, we must confirm whether or not a book is already digitally accessible. However, we may digitize a previously scanned public domain book in order for it to meet our higher standards. We have found electronic copies of public domain books that are blurry, skewed, and missing pages. They may not be searchable nor format properly to various devices. So, yes, we’ve digitized public domain books to our specifications even though there may be additional versions on the internet.
- There are many public domain ebook producers, including Standard Ebooks, Project Gutenberg, Google books, Hathi Trust Digital Library, Digital Public Library of America, Internet Archive, and Open Library. Many of these digitized books are free to the public. As previously stated, many scans are poor quality. Our House Treasures’ goal is to complete the OCR process so our products are searchable, flowable, have managed font-sizes, etc.
BOOKS UNDER COPYRIGHT
Our House Treasures also digitizes books that are under copyright. In each case, locating copyright holders and seeking approval to digitize them is essential. See blog How to Research Copyright Status.
- Our first motivation to locate a copyright holder was inspired by a well-read children’s book that we had in our library. We’ll share about the fun and unique steps to successfully gain permission to digitize a children’s book, The Horse That Liked Sandwiches (written by Vivian L. Thompson and illustrated by Aliki), in an upcoming separate blog.
- There are many barriers to locating and connecting with copyright holders. We are not aware of a central agency or “clearinghouse” which maintains up-to-date copyright holder information. During our research, we found that copyright holders may have moved numerous times. In addition, a copyright can be in the name of a trust, the original copyright holder might be deceased, or the copyright is held by an estate.
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- Is it time for the US Copyright Office to declare a copyright void if an owner cannot be found after a thorough search? Should copyright registrations be updated every 10 years or so (similar to the way patent holders must continually renew registrations)?
- See blog How to Research Copyright Status.
IS THERE A CONNECTION SITE FOR AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATORS?
Our House Treasures is seeking a connection site for authors and illustrators who are no longer active although still under copyright. How can we make contact so that his or her book is not lost to future generations? (NOTE: We had located a source JacketFlap, which supposedly connected 200,000 authors and illustrators of children’s books. It appears the site is no longer active. Is there an active site like this?)