Wiki Founder Wants to Invest In Copyrights

Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, said on his Wiki list that he’s looking for inspiration on buying copyrights to put them in the public domain:

I would like to gather from the community some examples of works you would like to see made free, works that we are not doing a good job of generating free replacements for, works that could in theory be purchased and freed.

Dream big. Imagine there existed a budget of $100 million to purchase copyrights to be made available under a free license. What would you like to see purchased and released under a free license?

Apparently he’s been asked by someone who has the cash to spend and wants to help the community. I initially saw this via /., but have also seen it reported by BoingBoing.

There’s a fierce debate currently going on at /., with more than a few ideas being bantered around. I’m sure this is exactly the kind of open convo that Wales was hoping to spark. If nothing else, at least Wikipedia’s getting some good blogosphere press.