Legal deposit

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Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The requirement is mostly limited to books and journals. The number of copies varies and can range from one to 19 (in Poland). Typically, the national library is one of the repositories of these copies.

In some countries there is also a legal deposit requirement placed on the government, and it is required to send copies of documents to publicly accessible libraries.

UNESCO published in 2000 recommendations for the construction of legal deposit legislation^[1].

Legal deposit by country

Australia

In Australia, section 201 of Copyright Act 1968^[2] and other state Acts requires that a copy of every book published in Australia be deposited with the National Library of Australia.

Canada

In Canada, the Library and Archives of Canada Act (2004)^[3] 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.

France

In France, legal deposit was initiated by the Montpellier ordinance 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.

Iceland

In Iceland, four copies of any published, printed, material must be sent to the National and University Library of Iceland, three of which will be kept there, and one of which will be kept at Amtsbókasafnið á Akureyri in Akureyri. If fewer than 50 copies are made only two are required. ^[4]

Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, the Copyright and Related Rights Act 2000 specifies that one copy of every book published is to be delivered to the National Library of Ireland, the Library of Trinity College, Dublin , the library of the University of Limerick, the library of Dublin City University, and the British Library. Four copies are to be delivered to the National University of Ireland for distribution to its constituent universities. Further, on demand in writing within twelve months of publication a copy is to be delivered to the Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, the National Library of Scotland and the National Library of Wales.

Israel

In Israel, "The Books Law 2000 (5761)" requires two copies of each publication to be sent to the National Library of Israel. At their request, the library of the Knesset and the Israel State Archive are entitled to receive one copy each^[5].

The government authorities are required by the "Freedom of Information Act, 1999" to send an annual report of their actions to the public library of every town with 5,000 people or more.

Monaco

In Monaco four copies of locally produced books, computer software and media must be deposited in the Bibliothèque Louis Notari. If fewer than 100 copies were produced only two copies are required.^[6]

Poland

Since 1780 the Republican Library has been entitled to a copy of all works published in Poland. In modern times the issue is regulated by a Decree of the Minister of Culture and Arts of March 6, 1997. The National Library of Poland and the Jagiellonian Library receive two copies of all publications, one of which is to be stored indefinitely. In addition to that, there are 15 other libraries to receive legal deposits to be stored for no less than 50 years: Maria Curie-Skłodowska University Library, University of Łódź Library, Nicolaus Copernicus University Library, Adam Mickiewicz University Library, Warsaw University Library, University of Wrocław Library, Silesian Library, City of Warsaw Library, Pomeranian Library in Szczecin, University of Gdańsk Library, Catholic University of Lublin Library, University of Opole Library and Podlachian Library in Białystok. The National Film Library (Filmoteka Narodowa) is to receive all film productions, while the Sejm Library receives a copy of all legal documents.

Russia

In Russia the Russian State Library (Moscow), the National Library of Russia (St Petersburg), the Library of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St Petersburg), as well as the libraries of the Moscow State University, the President of the Russian Federation, and the two Houses of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation are entitled to a copy of every book published.

Singapore

In Singapore, the National Library Board Act requires all publishers in Singapore to deposit two copies of every publication to the National Library Board at their own expense within four weeks from the publication date.

Spain

In Spain, since 1701 the law requires legal deposits of every publication and patent to be made in the Biblioteca Nacional de España, Spain's National Library, at the time of publication and at the publisher's own expense. Any book and patent so deposited can be consulted in the National Library, which holds at least two copies of each paper or book published.

Sweden

Since 1661, the Swedish Royal Library has been entitled to a copy of all works published in Sweden. Since 1698 all works must also be sent to the Lund University Library.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003^[7] restates the Copyright Act 1911, that one copy of every book published there must be sent to the British Library; five other libraries (Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford, Cambridge University Library, National Library of Scotland, the Library of Trinity College, Dublin and the National Library of Wales) are entitled to request a free copy within one year of publication.

United States

In the United States, any copyrighted work that is published^[8] must be submitted in two copies to the United States Copyright Office at the Library of Congress.^[9] This mandatory deposit is not required to possess copyright of unpublished works, but a copyright registration can give an author enhanced remedies in case of a copyright violation.^[10] The Library of Congress does not retain all works.

A legal requirement also rests on the US government. Over 1,250 Federal depository libraries must receive a copy of all of the publications of the Government Printing Office.

References

Further reading

• Jules Larivière, Guidelines for legal deposit legislation (A revised, enlarged and updated edition), Paris, UNESCO, 2000.