Knowledge Conservancy
= an Intellectual Conservancy] for preserving long-term access to copyrighted material.
URL = http://www.knowledgeconservancy.org
Description
"The Knowledge Conservancy is a non-profit organization which makes privately held intellectual property accessible online to the public for free and assures its long-term preservation. The Knowledge Conservancy accepts licenses to and donations of copyright properties in addition to other gifts to achieve its mission. The Knowledge Conservancy offers authors, publishers and other copyright owners a means to serve the public good while still exploiting the commercial value of their assets. Owners of intellectual property can select terms for their donations, specifying the timing of public release and degrees of functionality associated with online access, so as not to compete with their own product offerings. The restrictions may be negotiated on a case by case basis, but the guiding rule is that restrictions should not prevent full serial access once released. In the case of books, for example, the Knowledge Conservancy typically requires free reading access to every page.
The Knowledge Conservancy offers members of the public who believe in the value of free public access to intellectual property as a way of 'leveling the playing field' for rich and poor individuals and rich and poor countries. By contributing money to ensure greater accessibility, public supporters can also assure that future generations will have access to intellectual properties after the current owners of such properties are no longer interested in providing access." (http://rack1.ul.cs.cmu.edu/kc/about.shtml)