Will is not just pipedreaming.

The HLF has just provided a huge chunk a money for digitising manorial records at Essex Record Office. Hearth Tax project has just provided money for doctoral student to collate and digitise all Essex Tax records. We are in the process of digitising as much as possible (from photos and maps to will and Parish registers) at the ERO so it will be available via the all singing all dancing SEAX once it is all up an running. Huge expensive project.

Funding is out there for digitising historical stuff. Copyright might be addressed by charging for access to those materials under copyright protection.