Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1971 January - JuneAuthor: Library of Congress. Copyright Office,Language: English, Class: Z: Bibliography, Library science, Release Date: Mar 1, 2004