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Press

Latest Press
Overview
Press Coverage
Blog Coverage (Highlights)
Video
Newsletters
Logos & Images
Press Releases
Additional press questions? Please email press@gluejar.com.

Latest Press

Can You Spare a Little Change? Open Access on the Local Level
Library Babel Fish (Inside Higher Ed) - October 23, 2012
Unglue.it back in action after finding new payments provider
Good EReader - October 16, 2012
Unstuck: Chatting with Eric Hellman of book rights crowd-sourcing site Unglue.it about ebooks, the creative commons, passionate authors and life after Amazon
Book Business - October 3, 2012

Overview

What?
Unglue.it offers a win-win solution to readers, who want to read and share their favorite books conveniently, and rights holders, who want to be rewarded for their work.

We run crowdfunding campaigns to raise money for specific, already-published books. When we reach goals set by the rights holders, we'll pay them to unglue their work. They'll issue an electronic edition with a Creative Commons license as specified during the campaign. These licenses will make the edition free and legal for everyone to read, copy, and share, worldwide.

At Unglue.it, book lovers can pledge money to support these campaigns; add books to their wishlist to tell the world about their favorites; discuss their favorite books; share their Unglue.it pages via social media; and find direct links to public domain and unglued ebooks that they can read right away.
Why?
As ereaders proliferate, more and more people are enjoying the ereading experience. However, their favorite books may not be available as ebooks. Their ebooks may come with DRM which makes them unreadable on certain devices, and difficult or impossible to lend to friends. Or they may not be able to tell if they have the legal right to use the book as they'd like. The situation is even more challenging for libraries, which cannot acquire some ebooks at all, and can only acquire them under legal terms and DRM restrictions which run counter to library lending.

When books have a clear, established legal license which promotes use, they can be read more widely, leading to enjoyment, scholarship, and innovation. By raising money to compensate authors and publishers up front, Unglue.it encourages the benefits of openness while ensuring sustainability for creators.

For more background, read our president Eric Hellman's thoughts on a public broadcasting model for ebooks (on why the numbers work) and the development of Unglue.it.
Who?
Unglue.it is a service of Gluejar, Inc. We are Eric Hellman, Amanda Mecke, Raymond Yee, and Andromeda Yelton, with help from designer Stefan Fabry and software developers Jason Kace and Ed Summers. We come from the worlds of entrepreneurship, linked data, physics, publishing, education, and library science, to name a few. You can learn more about us at our Unglue.it pages (linked above) or our about page.
When?
Unglue.it launched May 17, 2012.
Where?
Gluejar is a New Jersey corporation, but its employees and contractors live and work across North America. The best way to contact us is by email, press@gluejar.com.
What does it cost?
Unglue.it is free to join and explore. Supporters pledge money only if they choose to support campaigns, and the amount is up to them. They are charged only if the campaigns reach their goal price. Unglue.it takes a small percentage from successful campaigns, with the remainder going to the rights holders.
What's your technology?
Unglue.it is built using Python and the Django framework. We use data from the Google Books, Open Library, LibraryThing, and GoodReads APIs; we appreciate that they've made these APIs available, and we're returning the favor with our own API. You're welcome to use it. We use Less to organize our CSS. We process pledges with Amazon Payments. We collaborate on our code at GitHub and deploy to the cloud with Amazon EC2.
How does the license work? Why did you choose this license?
The default Unglue.it license is a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. This license makes the edition free and legal for everyone to read, copy, and share worldwide. It requires that the author be credited and does not allow commercial use or derivative works (such as film adaptations) without additional permission from the rights holder.

We chose this license because it's a worldwide standard that has been developed by legal experts and tested in court. It invites readers to enjoy the book while providing clarity about their legal rights. It strikes a balance between rights holders' interests in promoting their work today and retaining certain potentially valuable rights for the future.

Creative Commons offers a variety of other licenses, many of them with even less restrictive terms. Unglue.it is happy to use any of them, if the rights holder prefers.
I have more questions...
Please consult our FAQ (sidebar at left); join the site and explore its features for yourself; or email us, press@gluejar.com.

Press Coverage

Unglue.it back in action after finding new payments provider
Good EReader - October 16, 2012
Unglue.it relaunches with five campaigns
Teleread - October 15, 2012
Research Intelligence - Unbound possibilities
Times Higher Education - October 11, 2012
Readmill's About to Make Reading More Social
Wall Street Journal - September 1, 2011
Unglue.it announced a partnership with Readmill on October 5, 2012.
Unglue.it: a crafty new way to resurrect lost classics
The Guardian - August 12, 2012
Crowdfunding Gets Tricky for Amazon
Wired - August 10, 2012
Amazon Payments suspends contract of ebook crowdfunding platform Unglue.it
Wired.co.uk - August 10, 2012
Ebook site Unglue.it hits bump after Amazon ends crowdfunding payment support
paidContent - August 9, 2012
Amazon Stops Processing Payments For Crowdfunding Platform For Creative Commons Books
Techdirt - August 9, 2012
Amazon Forces Unglue.it To Suspend Crowdfunding Operations
Library Journal - August 9, 2012
Digitale Bücherrettung
NDR.de - July 17, 2012
Unglue.it befreit Bücher
Die Zeit - July 9, 2012
Unglue.it Wants to Make a Creative Commons for Ebooks
Mashable - June 14, 2012
Buzzwords from BookExpo
Good EReader - June 07, 2012
Unglue.it Makes Free EBooks Through A Unique Crowdfunding Website
Huffington Post - May 21, 2012
Ebook Crowdfunding Platform Unglue.it Launched
Library Journal - May 17, 2012
Unglue.It: Crowd-Funding A Revolution In Libraries
Co.Exist (Fast Company) - March 9, 2012
A New Approach for Backlist Titles
PubWest Endsheet - Spring 2012
Solutions and Services: Unglue.it
American Libraries - February 14, 2012
Web site hopes to ‘unglue’ e-book versions of copyrighted books through crowdfunding
TeleRead - January 31, 2012
A Crowdfunded Approach To Setting E-Books Free
paidContent - January 30, 2012
New Crowdfunding Initiative to ‘Unglue’ Ebooks Launches in Alpha
Information Today - January 30, 2012
UnGlue : quand les internautes financent la gratuité des ebooks (French)
c|net France - January 29, 2012
Unglue.it Crowdfunds Unlimited Licenses for Beloved E-books
Publishing Perspectives - January 23, 2012
Gluejar to Make Soft Launch of Website at ALA Midwinter
The Digital Shift (Library Journal/School Library Journal) - January 16, 2012
“Our Friends in Seattle” and Other Euphemisms from Books in Browsers 2011
Publishing Perspectives - November 2, 2011
Digital Transition Questions Examined at Books in Browsers Conference
Publishers Weekly - November 1, 2011
Books Unbound
New York Times (Bits blog) - October 28, 2011
New Technologies, New Directions Emerge at ALA 2011
American Libraries - August 13, 2011
Publishing News: Week in Review
O'Reilly Radar - 8 April 2011

Blog Coverage (Highlights)

Can You Spare a Little Change? Open Access on the Local Level
Library Babel Fish (Inside Higher Ed) - October 23, 2012
Unglue: Giving books to the world
Tame The Web - October 14, 2012
Unstuck: Chatting with Eric Hellman of book rights crowd-sourcing site Unglue.it about ebooks, the creative commons, passionate authors and life after Amazon
Book Business - October 3, 2012
Words on the Water
Boing Boing - September 20, 2012
First Book Comes Unglued
Open Folklore - September 12, 2012
First Book Comes Unglued
The Digital Shift (Library Journal/School Library Journal) - September 12, 2012
Giving ebooks to the world – Unglue.it
Crowdfund it! - August 29, 2012
Transparency, Secrecy, and Copyright for the Modern Age
Contrary Brin - July 1, 2012
Science fiction author David Brin is a Hugo and Nebula award winner.
Release a deadly monster: a DRM-free ebook crowdfunding startup
Boing Boing - May 18, 2012
Unglue.it (And Why It Matters)
Agnostic, Maybe - May 29, 2012
Finding the (market) value in freeing books
Everybody's Libraries - May 28, 2012
Unglue.it: crowdfunding ebooks
Neverendingsearch (School Library Journal) - May 23, 2012
Raising money to free classic volume on Africa's oral literature
Boing Boing - May 18, 2012
Unglue.It — a service to crowdsource book licensing fees — launches
Disruptive Library Technology Jester - May 18, 2012
unglue.it befreit Bücher mittels Crowdfunding (German)
scinoptica - May 18, 2012
Unglue.it libera libros digitales (Spanish)
Contenidosenred - May 18, 2012
Стартап Unglue.it освобождает книги от копирайта с помощью краудфандинга (Russian)
Habrahabr - May 18, 2012
Unglue.it: welke e-books wil jij de wereld schenken? (Dutch)
mijns inziens - May 18, 2012
Unglue.it: A Crowdfunded, E-Book Liberation Project
Hack (Higher) Education (Inside Higher Ed) - May 17, 2012
Help me Unglue RIVERWATCH
Joseph Nassise - May 17, 2012
One of our inaugural rights holders on why he's ungluing his novel.
Pay to Free a Book
Roy Tennant: Digital Libraries (School Library Journal/Library Journal) - May 17, 2012
Está no ar o Unglue.it – Crowdfunding Para Direitos de eBooks (Portuguese)
Revolução E-Book - May 17, 2012
Unglue.it a punto para su lanzamiento (Spanish)
I+D de la Lectura - May 17, 2012
クラウドファンディングによって書籍のデジタル化&クリエイティブコモンズでの公開に必要な資金を調達する“Unglue.it” (Japanese)
Current Awareness Portal - May 16, 2012
BTB #296: Free E-books Is Gluejar’s Mission
Beyond the Book (Copyright Clearance Center) - May 3, 2012
Listen to Eric Hellman explain the Unglue.it model in this podcast.
Re-Inventing Public Libraries For The Digital Age
Innovation (Techdirt) - May 3, 2012
Unglue.it, la plataforma de crowfunding para liberar libros, será lanzada en mayo (Spanish)
I+D de la Lectura - April 28, 2012
Unglue.it: Was wäre, wenn… (German)
Plan3t Info - February 8, 2012
Unglue a Book: Crowdfunding to Liberate Published Works
Profhacker (Chronicle of Higher Education) - February 7, 2012
Anche con il crowfunding sembra sempre editoria (Italian)
Apoge Online - February 6, 2012
Unglue.it Maakt Ebooks Gratis Door Crowdfunding (Dutch)
eReaders - February 3, 2012
Ebooks: A Brief Fix On a Moving Target
The Plugged-In Librarian - November 1, 2011
Vom mai citi cărți? Sau altceva? (Romanian)
Chip Online - October 31, 2011
Nueva propuesta para el acceso abierto a los libros electrónicos (Spanish)
I+D de la Lectura - September 7, 2011
EdLab Review: Gluejar
EdLab blog - September 2, 2011
Gluejar ou comment désengluer les livres numériques (French)
S.I.Lex - July 28, 2011

Video


June 2012
Eric Hellman at Book Expo America.

March 2012
Andromeda Yelton; "The Future of Ebooks" panel at Computers in Libraries.

February 2012
Eric Hellman on the Tools of Change podcast.

November 2011
Eric Hellman, "The Network is Overrated"; talk at Books in Browsers 2011.

June 2011
Eric Hellman explains the Gluejar model to David Weinberger at LOD-LAM 2011.

Newsletters

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You can also subscribe to our newsletter.

Logos & Images

big logo

Full logo, 161px x 70px

small Logo

Logo image only, 44px x 30px

screenshot

300 ppi screenshot of a book page on Unglue.it. Features include links to the book, where available, at Google Books, Open Library, GoodReads, and LibraryThing; social sharing options; tabs with user comments and more information; and an explore bar linking to other books and users. The user list is dynamically generated, reflecting others interested in the same book.

screenshot

300 ppi screenshot of a supporter page. Supporters can readily see all the books on their wishlist and filter for active or successful campaigns. Icons show how many other ungluers have wishlisted a book or, for active campaigns, their progress toward completion. Unglued and public domain books have links to freely available copies. Numbered badges show how many successful, active, and wishlisted books a user is supporting. Supporters can link to their home page and accounts on Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, and LibraryThing (note icons in upper right), as well as import books from their GoodReads and LibraryThing accounts to their wishlist.

screenshot

300 ppi screenshot of a supporter page in panel view. This displays the same information as the list view, but in a less information-dense, more visually arresting format. Supporters can toggle between views.

screenshot

300 ppi screenshot of a search result page, powered by Google Books. Users can add books to their wishlist with one click, or click through for more information. Books with active campaigns display a progress meter. Where possible, books that are already unglued or in the public domain link to freely available copies.

screenshot

300 ppi screenshot of a search result page, in panel view. As with the supporter page, users can toggle between views.

Press Releases

Oral Literature in Africa unglued ebook released
September 12, 2012
Main launch announcement
May 17, 2012
Launch announcement: Budding Reader campaign
May 17, 2012
Launch announcement: Michael Laser campaign
May 17, 2012
Launch announcement: Joseph Nassise campaign
May 17, 2012
Launch announcement: Open Book Publishers campaign
May 17, 2012
Launch announcement: Nancy Rawles campaign
May 17, 2012






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