I would feel much better about this process if they were uploaded and if it were framed as a knowledge preservation project. This would only slightly increase the cost of the project, but have a huge impact on its perception and its net positive impact.

Of course, actually benefiting humanity is only a minor, indirect concern for investors.

I thought this was the original purpose of Google Books. It's actually a little surprising to me that there's anything left out there worth buying in physical form and scanning that hasn't already been digitized in some way.

Google faced a decade of litigation for making books searchable. It's all downside and little upside for a business.