Amazon to offer films from National Archives

WASHINGTON The National Archives and Records Administration today announced that it has reached an non-exclusive agreement with CustomFlix Labs, part of the Amazon.com Inc. group of companies, to make thousands of historic films from the National Archives available for purchase on Amazon.com.

The National Archives has selected the CustomFlix DVD on Demand service to initially make its collection of Universal Newsreels, dating from 1920 to 1967, available on DVD to the general public for purchase on Amazon.com. Newsreels cover worldwide events in politics, entertainment, fashion, sports and technology. Thousands of public domain films and other U.S. Defense Department and U.S. Information Agency titles from the National Archives motion picture holdings will also become available in the near future.

"The National Archives and Records Administration houses an amazing collection of motion picture titles that historically have been hard for the general public to access," said Dana LoPiccolo-Giles, co-founder and managing director of CustomFlix Labs. "Our DVD on Demand service will make these titles readily available for purchase on Amazon.com to be enjoyed by history buffs today, as well as for future generations to come."