The Library of Congress Revives Public Domain Works via CreateSpace Print on-Demand and Amazon Europe Print on-Demand

CreateSpace, part of the Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) group of companies, today announced an agreement with The Library of Congress to make at least 50,000 public books available through www.amazon.com. The Library of Congress also reached an agreement with Amazon Europe to make tens of thousands of books in the public domain available around the world to customers on www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de and www.amazon.fr using print on-demand technology, an inventory-free, cost-efficient publishing solution that only manufactures titles as customers order them.

This announcement with The Library of Congress follows the announcement in February 2010 that The British Library would be bringing at least 65,000 public domain titles to market using print on-demand. From Victorian classics to “penny dreadfuls,” readers now have access to The British Library’s unique collection of historic content.

As part of their ongoing efforts to improve access to material through digitization, the libraries provide CreateSpace and Amazon Europe’s print on-demand business with digital copies of scanned public domain books in their collections to be manufactured on-demand. Creating digital files from physical books preserves the integrity of the original works, and the new paperback editions available through CreateSpace and Amazon Europe distribution channels increase accessibility of those works to readers.

“We are pleased to now give the public a way to enjoy print on-demand access to library collections around the world,” said Dr. Deanna Marcum, associate librarian for Library Services, The Library of Congress.

With CreateSpace Print on-Demand, these national libraries will make a large selection of content available quickly and easily via CreateSpace’s host of U.S. distribution channels, including www.amazon.com, ensuring wide public access with little economic investment. Since titles are only manufactured in response to customer demand, no inventory is needed and the titles will never go out of stock, making print on-demand an economic, convenient, and environmentally responsible public access solution for libraries.

The Library of Congress and The British Library are the most recent organizations to work with CreateSpace Print on-Demand and Amazon Europe’s print on-demand business to give readers access to rare or out-of-print titles. Other noteworthy institutions–such as The University of Michigan Library–have already made tens of thousands of titles available on Amazon’s U.S. and European websites using CreateSpace Print on-Demand and Amazon Europe’s print on-demand business.

“Libraries are adopting print on-demand to give the public access to more works globally that may previously only have been available in a single country or even just in their individual physical catalogs,” said Dana LoPiccolo-Giles, managing director, CreateSpace. “We are looking forward to helping support The Library of Congress in its public access and preservation mission through our print on-demand solution.”

For more information about CreateSpace Print on-Demand, please visit www.createspace.com/info/publisher. For more information about Amazon Europe’s Print on-Demand offerings, please visit http://www.amazon.co.uk/POD (for the U.K.) and http://www.amazon.de/POD (for Germany).

About CreateSpace

CreateSpace is a leader in manufacture on-demand services for independent content creators, publishers, film studios and music labels. CreateSpace provides inventory-free, physical distribution of Books, CDs and DVDs on Demand, music downloads via Amazon MP3 and video downloads via Amazon Video On Demand. CreateSpace is a brand of On-Demand Publishing LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).

About The Library of Congress

The Library of Congress, America's oldest federal cultural institution, is the world's preeminent reservoir of knowledge, providing unparalleled collections and integrated resources to Congress and the American people. Many of the Library’s rich resources and treasures may also be accessed through the Library’s website, www.loc.gov, and via interactive exhibitions on a personalized website at myLOC.gov.

About The British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest research libraries. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world's largest and most comprehensive research collection. The Library's collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation. It includes: books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages. Further information is available on the Library's website at www.bl.uk.

About Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon's developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle and Kindle DX are the revolutionary portable readers that wirelessly download books, magazines, newspapers, blogs and personal documents to a crisp, high-resolution electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle and Kindle DX utilize the same 3G wireless technology as advanced cell phones, so users never need to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot. Readers who don't need the convenience of free 3G wireless can choose Kindle Wi-Fi for a lower price. Kindle is the #1 bestselling product across the millions of items sold on Amazon.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, and www.amazon.cn. As used herein, “Amazon.com,” “we,” “our” and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Amazon.co.uk , Amazon.de and Amazon.fr are trading names for Amazon EU S.à.r.l., Amazon Services Europe S.à.r.l. and Amazon Media EU S.à r.l. All three are wholly owned subsidiaries of global online retailer Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) located in Seattle, Wash.

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.