Concept Note - Digital Library of America Project (March 2011)

A subtotal of the planning to date. "The Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) will make the cultural and scientific heritage of humanity available, free of charge, to all. By adhering to the fundamental principle of free and universal access to knowledge, it will promote education in the broadest sense of the term....The DPLA must respect copyright, and insofar as it will include works that are commercially available, it must do so only with the consent of the rightsholders. With adequate funding, it might establish a pool of money to be distributed, according to the frequency of usage, to authors and publishers of works that are in print and covered by copyright. Many authors are now making their work available online according to open-access programs. The DPLA could coordinate and help implement such voluntary contributions to the general store of knowledge...."