WASHINGTON — The public will be able to purchase copies of thousands of historic films and videotapes via the Internet under an agreement the National Archives has reached with Amazon.com Inc. and one of its subsidiaries.
The nonexclusive arrangement allows Amazon and its CustomFlix Labs Inc. to make digitized copies of some footage and make it available in DVD form. The DVDs will sell for $19.99 on Amazon.com and will be manufactured at CustomFlix's facility in Scotts Valley, Calif.
The National Archives will receive the digitized preservation copy of all the footage that CustomFlix processes, archives spokeswoman Susan Cooper said.
The National Archives will initially make its collection of Universal Newsreels, dating from 1920 to 1967, available for purchase. Thousands of other public domain and government films will be made available later, officials said.
The first six DVDs are already selling on Amazon.com, said Stacey Hurwitz, a spokeswoman for CustomFlix.
