[wordupmaking]

What's the copyright? Would it be legal to unzip those and serve them directly, so archive.org or anyone else can make them more inviting for access?

I know you shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth but there's not even an index or a rough idea what something like "Name Authorities" might mean. That's not what I call wide open doors, that more seems like doing some legally required minimum.

[wonderous]

Files are 25 million bibliographic index files which were produced by US Federal employees, so yes, they're likely in the public domain as a result.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_status_of_work_by_...

[wordupmaking]

Awesome, thanks!

[an27]

I suppose you could do that and then wait for the C&D notice?

I can't imagine you'd get sued for putting online a copy of this if you comply with C&D notices, then again I'm very narrow-minded.

Regarding Name Authorities, this article should clarify it somewhat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authority_control

It's basically an authentication provider maintained by the Library of Congress, which serves to define cannonical identifiers for library-catalogued entities, like books and public figures.

The Library of Congress uses the MARC standard (developed internally) and that is the format of the Name Authorities files: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MARC_standards

[pmoriarty]

I wonder how much more extensive the release could have been were copyright laws not in the way.

Then there's the old question of whether the works under copyright today will ever go in to the public domain, or if their copyright will be extended forever by future changes in copyright law.

[wonderous]

Release is 25 million bibliographic index files and has nothing to do with copyright, since none of the data was ever covered by copyright protection.

[pmoriarty]

They didn't have to limit their release just to bibliographic index files. If they wanted to, they could have released manuscripts, letters, newsletters, videos, or any other media they have. But they may have felt inhibited by copyright laws.

So my question is, had copyright laws not been an issue, how much more would they have released?

There is also the larger question of whether the value of copyright law outweighs the value of not having it, so that everyone can benefit from this treasure trove of knowledge.

[AndrewUnmuted]

I don't think these records meet the standard definition of 'media' anyway. This is really just data that can be used for cataloguing purposes and other media custodian/librarian applications.

Given that the LoC has made it their goal to archive at least one copy of everything, I think they are not quite the right people to fall into your anti-copyright cross hairs. However, I do strongly agree with your overall premises.

[gjjrfcbugxbhf]

I don't think the op has anything against the LoC. More like they are lamenting that the LoC has its hands tied.

[brudgers]

https://loc.gov/collections

The Library of Congress has put materials online for a number of years. American Memory was the first I became aware of:

https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html

According to Wikipedia, it began in 1994.