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Collect public-domain and openly licensed content

A large share of the library can be free and legal: classic books, recordings and films whose copyright has expired or that are released for free use.

How

1. Ebooks: Project Gutenberg offers free ebooks that are not restricted by copyright in the United States. Outside the US, check your own country's law before downloading.
2. Audiobooks: LibriVox volunteers record public-domain books and release the audio free and ad-free.
3. Classical music: Musopen is a non-profit that provides recordings, sheet music and textbooks without copyright restrictions.
4. Films: the Internet Archive Feature Films collection holds digitised feature films, shorts and silent films. Check each item's rights statement before you save it.
5. Reference: Kiwix's catalogue offers thousands of free offline packages, including Wikipedia.
6. Keep a text file with each download noting where it came from and its licence, so you can share it legally later.

Sources

1. The Project Gutenberg License. Project Gutenberg, accessed 2026-11
2. LibriVox. LibriVox wiki, accessed 2026-11
3. About Musopen. Musopen, accessed 2026-11
4. Internet Archive: Feature Films of the Moving Image Archive (archive.org/details/feature_films). University of Toronto Libraries, accessed 2026-11
5. Kiwix content catalog. Kiwix, accessed 2026-11

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