generated as ISO files. When downloaded, they can be used to make a CD or DVD using a CD or DVD writer.)

10,000 eBooks. An impressive number if we think about all the scanned and proofread pages this number represents. A fast growth thanks to Distributed Proofreaders, a website designed in 2000 by Charles Franks to share the proofreading of eBooks between many volunteers. Volunteers choose one of the eBooks listed on the site and proofread a given page. They don't have any quota to fulfill, but it is recommended they do a page per day if possible. It doesn't seem much, but with hundreds of volunteers it really adds up.

In December 2003, there were 11,000 eBooks digizited in several formats, most of them in ASCII, and some of them in HTML or XML. This represented 46,000 files, and 110 G. On 13 February 2004, the day of Michael Hart's presentation at UNESCO, in Paris (see below), there were exactly 11,340 eBooks in 25 languages. In May 2004, the 12,581 eBooks represented 100,000 files in 20 different formats, and 135 gigabytes. With 400 new eBooks added per month (and more in the years to come), the number of gigabytes is expected to double every year.

= 15,000 eBooks in January 2005

In January 2005, Project Gutenberg had 15,000 eBooks. eBook number 15000 is The Life of Reason, by George Santayana (published in 1906). On June 16, 2005 there were 16,481 eBooks in 42 languages. On August 3, 2005, besides English (14,590 eBooks), the six main languages were French (578 eBooks), German (349 eBooks), Finnish (225 eBooks), Dutch (130 eBooks), Spanish (105 eBooks) and Chinese (69 eBooks).

Michael hopes to reach 1,000,000 eBooks by 2015. Each email he sends includes the current number, and the next significant goal to reach. As of July 2005, the next goal is 20,000 eBooks. This goal should be reached in July 2006, for the 35th anniversary of Project Gutenberg.

Conceived in January 2004, at the same time as the launching of Distributed Proofreaders Europe (DP Europe) by Project Rastko, Project Gutenberg Europe went online in June 2005 and released the 100 first eBooks processed by DP Europe over the past several months. These eBooks are in several languages, a reflection of European linguistic diversity. 100 languages are planned for the long term.

In July 2005, Project Gutenberg of Australia (launched in 2001) reached 500 eBooks, and Project Gutenberg of Canada took its first steps (see the PGCanada List). Project Gutenberg Portugal and Project Gutenberg Philippines will be next. (For the latest news, check the News and Events of Project Gutenberg.)

3. THE PUBLIC DOMAIN, AN ENDLESS TOPIC

Despite the enthusiasm and the persistence of its hundreds of volunteers, the task of Project Gutenberg isn't made any easier by the increasing restrictions to the public domain. As stated in the FAQ, "the public domain is the set of cultural works that are free of copyright, and belong to everyone equally." In former times, 50% of works belonged to the public domain, and could be freely used by everybody. Nowadays, 99% of works are governed by copyright, and some people would like this percentage to reach 100%.

In the Copyright HowTo section, Project Gutenberg presents its own rules for confirming the public domain status of eBooks according to US copyright laws. Here is a summary. Works published before 1923 entered the public domain no later than 75 years from the copyright date. (All these works are now in the public domain.) Works published between 1923 and 1977 retain copyright for 95 years. (No such works will enter the public domain until 2019.) Works created from 1978 on enter the public domain 70 years after the death of the author if the author is a natural person. (Nothing will enter the public domain until 2049.) Works created from 1978 on enter the public domain 95 years after publication (or 120 years after creation) if the author is a corporate one. (Nothing will enter the public domain until 2074.) Other rules apply too.

Much more restrictive than the previous one, the current legislation became effective after the promulgation of amendments to the 1976 Copyright Act, dated October 27th, 1998. As explained by Michael Hart in July 1999: "Nothing will expire for another 20 years. We used to have to wait 75 years. Now it is 95 years. And it was 28 years (+ a possible 28 year extension, only on request) before that, and 14 years (+ a possible 14 year extension) before that. So, as you can see, this is a serious degrading of the public domain, as a matter of continuing policy."

The dates mentioned by Michael are: a) 1790, date of the stranglehold of the Stationers' Guild (the publishers of the time) on the Gutenberg printing press (hence the 14-year copyright); b) 1909, date of the copyright reinforcement to counter the re-publishing of large collections of the public domain by reprint houses using steam and electric presses (hence the 28-year copyright); c) 1976, date of a new tightening of the copyright following the introduction of the Xerox photocopying machine (hence the 50-year copyright after the author's life); d) 1998, date of a further tightening of the copyright following the development of the internet (hence the 70-year copyright after the author's life). These are only the main lines. The Copyright Act has been amended 11 times in the last 40 years.

As stated by Tom W. Bell in Trend of Maximum U.S. General Copyright Term (with a very useful chart): "The first federal copyright legislation, the 1790 Copyright Act, set the maximum term at fourteen years plus a renewal term of fourteen years. The 1831 Copyright Act doubled the initial term and retained the conditional renewal term, allowing a total of up to forty-two years of protection. Lawmakers doubled the renewal term in 1909, letting copyrights run for up to fifty-six years. The interim renewal acts of 1962 through 1974 ensured that the copyright in any work in its second term as of September 19, 1962, would not expire before Dec. 31, 1976. The 1976 Copyright Act changed the measure of the default copyright term to life of the author plus fifty years. Recent amendments to the Copyright Act [the ones in 1998] expanded the term yet again, letting it run for the life of the author plus seventy years."

The amendments of the Copyright Act, dated October 27, 1998, were a major blow for digital libraries and deeply shocked their founders, beginning with Michael Hart and John Mark Ockerbloom, founder of The Online Books Page. But how were they to measure up to the major publishing companies? Michael wrote in July 1999: "No one has said more against copyright extensions than I have, but Hollywood and the big publishers have seen to it that our Congress won't even mention it in public. The kind of copyright debate going on is totally impractical. It is run by and for the 'Landed Gentry of the Information Age.' 'Information Age'? For whom?"

True enough. The political authorities continually speak about an information age while tightening the laws relating to the dissemination of information. The contradiction is obvious. This problem has also affected Australia (forcing Project Gutenberg of Australia to withdraw dozens of books from its collections) and several European countries. In a number of countries, the rule is now life of the author plus 70 years, instead of life plus 50 years, following pressure from content owners, with the subsequent "harmonization" of national copyright laws as a response to the "globalization of the market". (The Online Books Page gives a summary of the various copyright regimes, with a number of useful links.)

Now, from the volunteer point of view, the wisest thing to do is to choose a book published before 1923. It is also required that copyright clearance be confirmed prior to working