The list of identified orphan works candidates is now live on the HathiTrust Digital Library website (http://orphanworks.hathitrust.org/). This follows the U-M Library’s June announcement that it will allow U-M affiliated users to access digital versions of confirmed orphan works—that is, works whose copyright holders cannot be identified or contacted—when those works also reside in its print collection.

Each orphan work candidate will remain on the list for 90 days. If no valid copyright claimant comes forward, U-M users logged in to the HathiTrust Digital Library will be able to view, download, and print the work.

The Copyright Office of the University of Michigan Library is leading the Orphan Works Project, which is funded by HathiTrust, a digital library with more than 50 university and research library partners. Melissa Levine, U-M Library’s lead copyright officer, emphasizes that the primary goal of the project is to locate copyright holders wherever they exist, and enable them to make their own decisions about access to their work in HathiTrust.

But Levine has no doubt that there are many orphan works among HathiTrust’s 9 million volumes, approximately 73% of which are in copyright. She says, “Sharing these orphan works, once we’ve diligently searched for copyright holders, is integral to the mission of the Library.”

Other HathiTrust partners are moving forward with plans to share digitized orphan works from their own collections, including the University of Wisconsin and HathiTrust’s newest partner, the University of Florida Libraries.

Information about the Orphan Works Project, including a description of the identification and confirmation process, can be found on the Library’s website, at www.lib.umich.edu/orphan-works.