Welcome to my family genealogy blog. This site is devoted to genealogy research for ancestral or collateral lines. Check here for occasional tips, updates, or nostalgic family items of interest. Inquires to: gaylevanh@gmail.com. Copyright ©2026 by Family Roots and Branches. No portion of this blog may be copied, redistributed, or used without the express written consent.
Sunday, August 11, 2019
Millions of Books are Secretly in the Public Domain !
And YOU Can Download Them for Free !
A quirk of copyright law means that millions of books are now free for anyone to read, thanks to some work from the New York Public Library.
Everyone is paying for books when they don’t have to. There’s so many ways to read almost anything ever published, for free, that it borders on the obscene. Libraries: They’re good! Sure, if you want the latest release from your favorite author you either have to pay or wait for a copy from the library, but for millions of older books, you can get a digital version, legally, for free. One secret of the publishing industry is that most American books published before 1964 never extended their copyright, meaning they’re in the public domain today.
Read more about this GREAT deal at: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kz4e3e/millions-of-books-are-secretly-in-the-public-domain-you-can-download-them-free