National Library - Legal Deposit and Copyright

Legal Deposit and Copyright

The principle of legal deposit applies in some countries.

In the United Kingdom, the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 restates the Copyright Act 1911, that one copy of every book published there must be sent to the national library (the British Library); five other libraries (the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, the Cambridge University Library, the National Library of Scotland, the Trinity College Library, Dublin, and the National Library of Wales) are entitled to request a free copy within one year of publication. The international nature of the book publishing industry ensures that all significant English language publications from elsewhere in the world are also included.

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 Trinity College Library, 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.

In Australia, the Copyright Act 1968 and other state Acts requires that a copy of every book published in Australia be deposited with the National Library of Australia, the relevant State Library for the state in which the book was published, and some states other libraries such as Parliamentary and university libraries.

A similar system also exists in Canada with respect to its national library, known as Library and Archives Canada, and in Quebec, the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec which has been entitled to two copies (for publications retailing at less than $250), or one copy (for publications retailing at $250 or above) of books published in Quebec since 1968.

Since 1537, all works published in France must be deposited with the Bibliothèque nationale de France. Since 1997, it has also received deposits of digital works.

Since 1661, the Swedish Royal Library has been entitled to a copy of all works published in Sweden.

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.

Other countries, like the United States, do not follow this requirement. The United States does, however, require that any publisher submit two copies of a copyrightable work to United States Copyright Office at the Library of Congress – this is known as mandatory deposit – but the Library is selective about which works it retains. The international nature of the book publishing industry ensures that all significant English language publications from elsewhere in the world are also included. It also has the Federal depository libraries, which must receive a copy of all of the publications of the Government Printing Office.

In addition to having a law requiring publishers to deposit books, those countries with legal deposits usually have many other incentives for a proper and speedy deposit, such as a tie-in with laws affecting copyright of the same documents, and/or a cataloguing- in- publication service.

Approximately three million new English-language books are retained by the British Library and Library of Congress each year.