The current publishing system creates barriers to accessing important books, particularly educational materials and works addressing social issues. While digital distribution has reduced costs, copyright restrictions often prevent free distribution even when it would serve the public good. One way to address this could be systematically acquiring rights to valuable books and making them freely available.

How This Could Work

The approach could involve identifying books where free distribution would create significant social benefit, then acquiring their rights through purchase or negotiation. This could enable free digital and potentially physical distribution. Key components might include:

• Developing criteria for book selection (social impact potential, current accessibility limitations)
• Creating standardized processes for rights acquisition
• Establishing free distribution channels
• Producing new digital/audio versions when needed

Potential Benefits and Stakeholder Alignment

Students, educators, activists, and the general public could gain free access to valuable knowledge. Authors might see their works reach wider audiences while publishers could benefit from rights sales and positive publicity. The project team and donors could achieve significant social impact relative to investment.

Compared to existing efforts like Project Gutenberg (public domain works) or Creative Commons (voluntary sharing), this approach could make newer, still-copyrighted works available through legal acquisition rather than waiting for copyright expiration or relying on author initiative.

Implementation Approach

A pilot phase could test the concept with 3-5 high-impact books, developing acquisition processes and basic distribution. If successful, scaling could involve:

• Expanding to more books annually
• Creating crowdfunding for specific acquisitions
• Partnering with educational institutions
• Developing volunteer production networks

While keeping core content free, potential sustainability could come from premium physical editions, donations, grants, or sponsorships from aligned organizations.