Albania In Albania, section 41–47 of the law "On books in the Republic of Albania" (no. 9616/2006) 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
Libraries Act 1988 (Qld), the
Libraries Act 1984 (Tas), Section 35 of the
Libraries Act 1982 (SA), the
Libraries Act 1939 (NSW), Section 49 of the
Libraries Act 1988 (Vic), and the
Legal Deposit Act 2012 (WA) The
Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has no local legislation , 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 (and in some states, to
audio-visual formats as well). On 17 February 2016, the federal legal deposit provisions were extended (by
Statute Law Revision Act (No. 1) 2016) to cover electronic publications of all types. 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".
Austria Belgium Brazil in 1847 Legal deposit legislation in Brazil ("Depósito legal"), federal laws number 10994 and 12192, requires that one copy of every book, music or periodical published in the country be sent to the
National Library of Brazil (known as Biblioteca Nacional, Biblioteca do Rio de Janeiro, or Fundação Biblioteca Nacional), located in the city of
Rio de Janeiro.
Brunei Under the Preservation of Books Act (1967, revised in 1984), 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 (2004) 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 within seven days of its publication.
China In China, Article 22 of
Regulations on the Administration of Publication (2001) 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 (Library of the Congress of the Republic of Colombia), and one copy to the Central Library of the
Universidad Nacional de Colombia (National University of 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 The
National Library of Costa Rica is obliged by law ("Printing Law and Copyright [Author Rights Law] and Related Rights Law") to hold three copies of every publication in the country.
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 (for most written works) and by the State and University Library (for newspapers, audio, and video); 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 (the university had been transferred from Turku in 1827) remained the main deposit library. Additional copies began to be deposited in other libraries in Turku, Jyväskylä, and Vyborg (later Oulu). 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 (Helsinki University Library renamed) 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.
Germany In Germany, since 1913 publishing houses bound by a contract with the booksellers' guild, the
Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, were required to send a so-called
Pflichtexemplar of each book in print and stock to the
Deutsche Bücherei in
Leipzig. After World War II,
Deutsche Bücherei kept going in
East Germany, while the
Deutsche Bibliothek was founded in
Frankfurt am Main,
West Germany. Legal deposits kept being required strictly by Private Law, organised by the Börsenverein and the German booksellers. Since 1969, the German National Library Law (
Gesetz über die Deutsche Bibliothek vom 31. März 1969, BGBl. I S. 265) required that two copies of each print publication and of some non-print publications be sent to the German National Library in either Frankfurt am Main or
Leipzig (depending on the publisher's location). The act was replaced in 2006 by the German National Library Act, as the
German National Library, or
Deutsche Nationalbibilothek, was founded. Additionally, each
federal state of Germany requires that one or two copies of works published in that state be deposited in the respective state repository.
Hong Kong Under section 3 of the Books Registration Ordinance the publisher of a new book shall, within one month after the book is published, printed, produced or otherwise made in Hong Kong, deliver to the
Secretary for Broadcasting, Culture and Sport free of charge five copies of the book. A person who contravenes such requirement shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of
HK$2000. The secretary is required to send one copy to the
City Hall Library, which was the main library of the previous
Urban Council or such other library as he may approve. This requirement did not include any library under the previous
Regional Council (another municipal council in Hong Kong), and was not amended since the
Hong Kong Central Library was open and replaced the City Hall Library as the main library for the whole territory.
Hungary Iceland In Iceland, four copies of any published, printed, material must be sent to the
National and University Library of Iceland in
Reykjavík, 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.
India The Delivery of Books Act 1954 enacted by the Indian parliament regulates the deposit of books published in India to the
National Library of India, Kolkata and three other libraries namely,
Connemara Public Library, Chennai; Central Library, Mumbai and the
Delhi Public Library. The Act was amended in 1956 to include periodicals and newspapers. The Indian National Bibliography is compiled on the receipt of books received under Delivery of Books Act at the National Library, Kolkata.
Ireland One copy of each book and periodical published in the Republic of Ireland must be deposited with the
National Library of Ireland (NLI), the
British Library, and each of the seven university libraries:
Trinity College Library and those of the
University of Limerick (UL),
Dublin City University (DCU), and the four constituent universities of the
National University of Ireland (NUI). Trinity College Library incurs expense, partly reimbursed from public funds, in receiving UK books and acting as a clearing house for Irish books sent for UK deposit. The
Irish Free State in 1922 inherited the UK's
Copyright Act 1911 (
1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 46), which made Trinity College Library and those in the UK the legal deposits for UK-published books. When the Free State's first copyright law was debated in 1927, it was decided to retain Trinity College Library rather than the NLI as the deposit for UK books, on the grounds of continuity. It retains the status . Originally the 1927 bill proposed only to add the NLI as a deposit for Free State publishing;
in committee the three then constituent colleges of the NUI were added as well, while status of the lesser British libraries was reduced from automatic to by request.
St Patrick's College (predecessor of
NUI Maynooth) was added in 1963, and UL and DCU in 1989 on promotion to university status. In 2000, the deposit requirement was extended to
e-publishing, and libraries could request digital copies in addition to hard copies.
Israel In Israel, "The Books Law 2000 (5761)" requires two copies of each publication to be sent to the
National Library of Israel. The library of the
Knesset and the
Israel State Archive are each entitled to receive one copy upon request. 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.
Italy In Italy, the law on legal deposit (
15 April 2004, n. 106) requires a copy of each publication to be sent to both the
National Central Library of Florence and
National Central Library of Rome, as it has been since the institution of the
Kingdom of Italy (1861). In addition, the
regions determine local regional and
provincial legal deposit libraries, which receive two more copies and often inherit that status from their pre-unification history. For instance, the
Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense is the legal deposit library in
Lombardy since 1788 (when it covered the
Duchy of Milan) and the National Central Library of Florence since 1743 (for the
Grand Duchy of Tuscany).
Japan The legal deposit requirements for Japan's
National Diet Library are specified in Chapters X through XI-3 of the National Diet Library Law. These requirements vary based on whether the publishing entity is governmental or nongovernmental, and on whether the work is published physically or online. Required works are books, pamphlets, serials, music scores, maps, films, other documents or charts, phonographic records, and digital text, images, sounds, or programs. Nongovernmental publishers must submit a single copy, and are entitled to "compensation equivalent to the expenses usually required for the issue and deposit of the publication;" noncompliance is subject to a fine.
Kenya In Kenya, the legal deposit regulation is covered under the
Books and Newspaper Act Cap. 111 of 1960. It covers books (any volume), encyclopaedia, magazines, review, gazette, pamphlet, leaflet, sheet of letterpress, sheet of music, map, plan and chart. However, it gives exceptions to letter heading, price list, annual reports, trade circular, trade advertisement, government publications, legal, trade or business document. The Acts gives the mandate to
Kenya National Library Service and the
Registrar of Books and Newspapers. According to the Act, publishers should deposit two copies with the
Director, Kenya National Library Service and not more than three copies to the Registrar of Books and Newspapers as it may be specified. The regulations were last reviewed in the year 2002 where penalties were specified for non-compliance.
Liechtenstein The
Liechtenstein State Library, colloquially known as the State Library, was formally established by law by the National Library Foundation in 1961. The State Library possesses a legal depository. As per the amended statutes, the roles of the State Library changed as such: the State Library now functions as a national library as well as a scientific and public library. As a national library, the State Library collects print materials, pictures and music created by citizens of Liechtenstein as well as items related to Liechtenstein. Also, the State Library acts as a patent library for the Principality of Liechtenstein and as such provides access to comprehensive international patent information. The State Library's rules and regulations must follow the current legislation under
Liechtenstein's European Economic Area as well as Swiss legislation.
Macau Decree-Law No. 72/89/M requires that copies of works published in Macau be deposited with the
Macao Central Library.
Malaysia In Malaysia, according to the
Akta Penyerahan Bahan Perpustakaan 1986 (Deposit of Library Material Act 1986), five copies of printed library materials including books, printed materials, maps, charts and posters must be deposited to the
National Library of Malaysia. In addition, two copies of non-printed library materials must also be deposited.
Mexico In Mexico, the
General Library Law states that two specimens of each physical book, publication, magazine, newspaper, map, brochure, poster, music sheet, record, movie or photograph published should be donated to each of the following libraries:
National Library of Mexico,
Biblioteca de México José Vasconcelos,
Library of the Congress of Mexico, or one specimen if in electronic or digital format.
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.
New Zealand Legal deposit was initiated in 1903 in New Zealand, and currently requires that copies of all printed documents and offline electronic documents (e.g. DVDs) be sent to the
National Library of New Zealand within 20 working days of publication. It also empowers the National Librarian to make copies of Internet documents including websites. If asked for assistance in making copies of their Internet documents, publishers must comply within 20 working days. This process is given legal force by Part 4 of the National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa) Act 2003, as well as three supporting requirements notices. If more than 100 copies are printed in total, two copies must be provided, otherwise one. If the price of one copy is greater than $1,000 NZD, only one copy is required.
Norway Publications in Norway, "regardless of the format of publication", including digital documents, must be deposited with the
National Library of Norway.
Poland Since 1780 the
Załuski Library has been entitled to a copy of all works published in Poland. In modern times the issue is regulated by For software and traditional publications with a
print run of up to 100 copies, the
National Library of Poland and the
Jagiellonian Library must receive one copy each, which are to be stored indefinitely. For publications with a larger run, they receive two copies, and 13 other libraries receive one, to be stored for
no less than 50 years: library of the
Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, library of the
University of Łódź,
Nicolaus Copernicus University Library, library of the
Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań,
University of Warsaw Library, library of the
University of Wrocław,
Silesian Library,
City of Warsaw Library,
Pomeranian Library in Szczecin, library of the
University of Gdańsk, library of the
Catholic University of Lublin, library of the
University of Opole, and
Podlaskie Library in Białystok. The
Sejm Library additionally receives a copy of all legal documents. Film productions are sent only to the
National Film Library (
Filmoteka Narodowa). Legal deposits are handled free of charge by the
Polish Post. Failure to provide a legal deposit is penalised by fine.
Portugal In Portugal, all publishers are currently required to deposit 11 copies of all publications, which are distributed between the
National Library of Portugal, municipal libraries of major cities, and the libraries of public institutions of science and higher learning. Special exceptions, of which only one copy is required (and stored in the National Library), include Masters and PhD dissertations, limited prints, stamps, plans, posters, among others.
Romania In Romania, all publishers are required to deposit copies of publications at the
National Library of Romania. For books and brochures the minimum requirement is 7 copies. For periodicals, school manuals and audiovisual publications, the legal deposit is 6 copies while for sheet music, atlases and maps the minimum requirement is 3 copies. Also, for PhD theses, the legal deposit is 1 copy.
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), the
State Public Scientific & Technological Library (
Novosibirsk) 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.
Slovenia The forerunner of the
National and University Library of Slovenia, the Lyceum Library of
Ljubljana was established around 1774 by a decree issued by
Maria Theresa from the remains of the Jesuit Library and several monastery libraries. The submission of legal deposit copies to the Lyceum library became mandatory with a decree published by the Austrian court in 1807, at first only in
Carniola, except for a short period of French occupation, when it received copies from all the
Illyrian provinces. In 1919, it was named
State Reference Library and started to collect legal deposit copies from the
Slovenia of the time. In the same year, the
University of Ljubljana (the first Slovenian university) was established and the library served its needs too. In 1921, it started to acquire legal deposit copies from the entire
Kingdom of Yugoslavia. It was named the University Library in 1938.
Digitalna knjižnica Slovenije (Digital library of Slovenia) is a project of the National and University Library of Slovenia.
South Africa In South Africa the
Legal Deposit Act, 1997 requires publishers to provide five copies of every book published, if the
print run consists of 100 or more copies. These copies must be deposited in the
National Library of South Africa (NLSA) in
Cape Town, the NLSA in
Pretoria, the
Mangaung Library Services in
Bloemfontein, the
Msunduzi Municipal Library in
Pietermaritzburg, and the Library of
Parliament in Cape Town. If the print run is less than 100 copies, then only one copy is required, to be deposited in the NLSA in Cape Town. If it is less than 20 copies, then no deposit is required. For films, videos and
sound recordings, the requirements are the same, except that the
National Film, Video and Sound Archives (NFVSA) receives a deposit copy instead of the Library of Parliament, and if only one copy is required it is deposited in the NFVSA rather than the NLSA.
South Korea Article 20 of the Library Act requires that one or two copies of any tangible material published or produced in the country be sent to the
National Library of Korea within 30 days for permanent preservation. Copies of online materials must be submitted on demand.
Spain In Spain, the obligation to deposit copies of printed materials has existed since 1619 for the Royal Library of
El Escorial and since 1716 for the Royal Library of Madrid (later the
National Library of Spain). From this moment, there followed multiple provisions, in the 19th century termed "legal deposit", all with the aim of enforcing compliance. The decree of 1957 established a solid administrative base for legal deposit in Spain, based on the separation between provincial offices that managed legal deposit at the local level and conservation libraries, such as the National Library. The decree stipulated that printers were responsible for depositing several copies of all published works at the National Library and other public libraries. This legal deposit legislation covered a wide range of materials, including printed materials such as books and magazines, sound recordings, maps, movies, and postcards. The number of copies that must be delivered to each library varies between two and four according to the type of material. Through legal deposit, the National Library collects all materials published in Spain. The central libraries for each
autonomous community collect works published in their respective communities, and provincial libraries collect works published in their respective provinces.
Sri Lanka First legal deposit of Sri Lanka was established in 1885 at the National Museum Library. The law of the country (according to National Archives Act No. 48 of 1973). requires that a copy of every document printed in the country has to be deposited in the legal deposit. There are five legal deposits in the country. These are the
National Archives of Sri Lanka, the
National Library of Sri Lanka, the
National Museum Library, the
University of Peradeniya library and the
Library, University of Ruhuna.
Sweden The Swedish Legal Deposit Act originates in 1661. According to present legislation, copies of printed material, sound and moving images has to be sent to
The National Library of Sweden and
Lund University Library (no audiovisual material). In 2012 the Legal Deposit Act for Electronic Material was passed. It states that starting in 2015, publishing companies and public authorities must deliver digitally published content to the National Library. In 2013-14 electronic legal deposits will start in a smaller scale.
Switzerland There is no federal law establishing legal deposit in Switzerland, however, the cantons of
Vaud,
Fribourg,
Geneva, and
Ticino have enacted legal deposit laws applying to books published within their respective jurisdictions. On a national level, the
Swiss National Library (SNL) has voluntary agreements in place with the two main publishers' associations in the country; , and Association Suisse des Diffuseurs, Editeurs et Libraires, under which the SNL receives a copy of every book published by associated publishers.
Taiwan In Taiwan, the Library Act requires that a copy of a work should be deposited with the
National Central Library and the Parliamentary Library of the
Legislative Yuan. There are only two university library selected as Legal deposit destination —
National Dong Hwa University Library and
National Taiwan University Library.
United Kingdom There are six legal deposit libraries under UK law: the
British Library, the
National Library of Scotland, the
National Library of Wales, the
Bodleian Library at
Oxford University,
Cambridge University Library, and
Trinity College Dublin Library. Although the
Irish Free State left the UK in 1922, Trinity College remains a UK deposit library, and the UK libraries reciprocally retain deposit rights for Irish publications. The
Statute of Anne (1710) formalised the practice by extending it, in England, to the Royal Library (now the British Library), Cambridge University, and the library of
Sion College, and, in Scotland, to the
Advocates Library and the universities of
St. Andrews,
Edinburgh,
Glasgow and
Aberdeen. After the
Union with Ireland, an 1801 act extended deposit to Trinity College and
King's Inns in Dublin. From 1814, publishers supplied institutions upon request rather than automatically. In 1836, Sion College, King's Inns, and the Scottish universities were removed from the list, compensated with a book stipend equal to the average annual value of books deposited over the preceding three years. The
Copyright Act 1911 (
1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 46) gave limited deposit rights to the National Library of Wales, with full rights coming in 1987. The Advocates Library's right was transferred to the National Library of Scotland upon its 1925 creation. The
Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 restates section 15 of the
Copyright Act 1911 (
1 & 2 Geo. 5. c. 46), that one copy of every book (which includes pamphlets, magazines, newspapers, sheet music and maps) published there must be sent to the British Library. The other five deposit libraries are entitled to request a free copy within one year of publication, a process which they normally coordinate jointly through
Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries. The 2003 Act sets out provisions for the deposit of non-print works. This legislation was updated with the introduction of secondary legislation, The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations 2013, which make provision for the legal deposit of works published online or offline in formats other than print, such as websites, blogs, e-journals and CD-ROMs. Social media content is included in the legislation, but not private message sent via social media platforms. Pure video streaming websites are also excluded from the legislation. In the United Kingdom, the purpose of legal deposits is to "preserve knowledge and information for future generations and 'maintain the national published archive of the British Isles'. The purpose and intent for preserving publications for national posterity applied to other countries as well, including the United States. According to Thomas Lidman, "[l]egal deposit is the foundation on which to build national library services, it helps to ensure that the country's intellectual heritage will be preserved and available for study".
United States In the United States, the
Copyright Act requires that any copyrighted and published work must be submitted in two copies to the
United States Copyright Office at the
Library of Congress. The Library of Congress does not retain all works. 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. This optional registration also requires depositing two copies of the work and therefore also satisfies mandatory deposit requirements. If a foreign publisher distributes works in the US, they must also comply with the mandatory requirements. In August 2023, the
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in
Valancourt Books v. Garland that the mandatory deposit requirement is an unconstitutional violation of property rights. The separate deposit requirement to optionally register copyright, however, remains in place. Another type of depository library in the United States are
federal depository libraries, which are entitled to free copies of all materials (digital, print, microform, etc.) published by the
Government Publishing Office. By accepting these materials, the libraries commit to providing free public access to the depository collection, and they agree to hold the materials for no fewer than five years (with some exceptions); large "regional" depositories also commit to holding these materials indefinitely. There are currently 1,114 such depository libraries in the United States, though the number of federal publications each receives varies based upon their selection profile. This
Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is not affiliated with the Library of Congress and should not be confused with the aforementioned copyright deposit program. ==See also==