Legal deposit
Legal deposit is a legal requirement that mandates individuals or organizations to submit copies of their publications to a designated repository, typically a national library. The number of copies required varies by country. In some jurisdictions, governments are also subject to legal deposit obligations and must provide copies of official documents to publicly accessible libraries. These requirements exist to preserve a nation's published heritage and ensure long-term access to information.
The legislation governing legal deposit requirements varies by country; in some cases, it is enshrined in copyright law, while in others, it is established through separate legal deposit or library-specific statutes. Until the late 20th century, legal deposit covered only printed and audiovisual materials. However, in the 21st century, most countries have extended their legislation to include digital documents. In 2000, UNESCO published a new and enlarged edition of Jean Lunn's 1981 Guidelines for Legal Deposit Legislation, which addresses the issue of electronic formats in its recommendations for the construction of legal deposit legislation.
The number of books deposited in national legal repositories increased from 2.4million in 2018 to 2.7million in 2019, mainly due to a substantial growth in digital deposits.
By country
Albania
In Albania, section 41–47 of the law "On books in the Republic of Albania" requires publishers of "printed books, brochures, posters, postal cards, maps, geographic atlases, and musical and choreographical scores" to deposit 5 copies without compensation at the National Library of Albania, the Library of the Albanian Parliament, and the local public library of the municipality the publisher operates in. Each new printing is subject to the same conditions.Australia
In Australia, section 201 of the Copyright Act 1968 and other state acts requires that a copy of all materials published in Australia be deposited with the National Library of Australia. State laws require books and a wide range of other materials published in each state to be deposited in the applicable state library. New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia also require books published in those states to be deposited in the library of the state parliament. New South Wales law also requires books published in that state to be deposited in the University of Sydney library.The relevant legislation governing deposit of items to state and territory libraries are: the Publications Act 2004 ; the Libraries Act 1988, the Libraries Act 1984, Section 35 of the Libraries Act 1982, the Libraries Act 1939, Section 49 of the Libraries Act 1988, and the Legal Deposit Act 2012 The Australian Capital Territory has no local legislation as of 2020, but publishers "are encouraged to lodge a copy of their publications with the ACT Heritage Library for ongoing preservation and access".
The Copyright Act 1968 and legal deposit legislation pertaining to each state mandates that publishers of any kind must deposit copies of their publications in the National Library of Australia as well as in the state or territory library in their jurisdiction. Until the 21st century, this has applied to all types of printed materials. On 17 February 2016, the federal legal deposit provisions were extended to cover electronic publications of all types. By July 2018, while the Northern Territory was the only jurisdiction with legislation with explicit mention of "internet publications", Queensland's Libraries Act 1988 and Tasmania's Libraries Act 1984 were broad enough to include digital publications. Most states and territories have been reviewing or amending existing legislation to extend to digital publications as well. The State Library of South Australia requires that electronic publications should be deposited rather than print whenever possible". In June 2019, New South Wales passed new legislation, the Library Amendment Act 2019, which amended the Library Act 1939 and repealed previous legal deposit legislation, the Copyright Act 1879. The change means that legal deposit now applies to all formats, including digital.
Under the legislation ), publishers are required to deposit digital publications without technological protection measures or digital rights management ; that is, the copy must contain all content and functionality, without protection measures such as password protection or subscription paywalls.
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Legal deposit legislation in Brazil, federal laws number 10994and 12192,
requires that one copy of every book, music or periodical published in the country be sent to the National Library of Brazil, located in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
Brunei
Under the Preservation of Books Act, three copies of every "book, report, pamphlet, periodical, newspaper, sheet of letterpress, sheet of music, map, plan, chart or table separated published" shall be delivered to the Director of Museums within one month after the publication at one's own expense.Canada
In Canada, the Library and Archives of Canada Act specifies that up to two copies of any published material must be deposited with Library and Archives Canada. Materials deposited in the archives are catalogued; the catalogs are available as part of the Library and Archives Canada website. The province of Quebec also requires deposit of two copies of any document be deposited to Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec within seven days of its publication.China
In China, Article 22 of Regulations on the Administration of Publication states that three copies of each printed publication should be submitted to the National Library of China, one copy to the Archives Library of Chinese Publications and one copy to the administrative department for publication under the State Council.Colombia
In Colombia, the law of legal deposit is regulated by Law 44 of 1993, the statutory Decree 460 of March 16 of 1999, and Decree 2150 of 1995. These laws and decrees are specifically about the National Library of Colombia. The creators of printed works, as well as audiovisual, audio, and video productions, should supply the library with a specified number of copies of the works, whether they were produced within the Colombian territory or imported.- For printed works, two copies of each of the works produced within the national territory should be delivered to the National Library of Colombia; one copy to the Biblioteca del Congreso de la República de Colombia, and one copy to the Central Library of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, excepting a few cases in which the high cost of the edition or the short duration of publication makes it possible to deliver fewer copies.
- For audiovisual and audio works, as well as for published works that have been imported, only one copy needs to be delivered to the National Library.
Costa Rica
Croatia
In Croatia, legal deposit was established in 1816. Today, it is regulated by the Libraries Act, which stipulates nine copies should be supplied by the publishers. Of these, two are received by the National and University Library in Zagreb, while university and scientific libraries in Osijek, Rijeka, Pula, Zadar, Split, Dubrovnik and Mostar receive one copy each.Denmark
In Denmark, legal deposit has been required since 1697, and is handled by the Royal Danish Library and by the State and University Library ; two copies must be supplied. This also includes works in digital format, and the publisher may be required to supply the necessary passwords.Faroe Islands
Legal deposit of four copies of every publication is required to the National Library of the Faroe Islands under a law passed on July 16, 1952.Finland
In Finland, The Royal Academy of Turku was given right to receive a copy of all works published in Sweden in 1707. After Finland had been ceded by Sweden to Russia, this privilege was confirmed in 1809. In 1820, all Russian print presses began to send legal deposit copies to Finland.Gaining its independence in 1917, Finland retained the principles of legal deposit. Helsinki University Library remained the main deposit library. Additional copies began to be deposited in other libraries in Turku, Jyväskylä, and Vyborg. In 1984, the obligation to deposit was expanded to audiovisual materials; responsibility to preserve films was given to the National Audiovisual Institute.
A new act on depositing and preservation of cultural materials was given in 2007. The new act covers two new important types of cultural materials. The National Audiovisual Archive collects and preserves broadcast materials, whereas the National Library of Finland takes care of capturing and preserving Web content.
France
In France, legal deposit was initiated by the Ordonnance de Montpellier of 1537, under which a copy of any published book had to be delivered to the king's library, for conservation purposes. During the following centuries, legal deposit was sometimes used to facilitate censorship and the obligation was thus removed briefly during the French Revolution, under the argument that it violated freedom of speech. The main depository is the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Legal deposit is extremely developed and concerns not only printed material but also multimedia archives and even some web pages.France is also unique in the world in funding the Osmothèque, a legal deposit scent and fragrance archive to preserve perfume formulas.