other nations

This page considers legal deposit schemes outside Australasia.

It covers -

• introduction
• United Kingdom
• US
• Singapore and Malaysia
• Japan
• India
• Germany, Austria and Switzerland
• France
• Denmark
• Finland, Sweden and Norway
• the Netherlands and Belgium
• Spain
• South Africa

     introduction

As noted at the beginning of this profile, most nations are taking an incremental approach regarding online content, with legal deposit legislation initially being extended to cover physical format electronic publications (in particular CD-ROMs) and considerable wariness being shown in requirements for capture of online content (particularly non-static electronic publications).

     UK

The Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 (here), in effect from 2004, extends the existing print-centred regime to other media formats, including offline electronic information.

Under the 1911 Copyright Act publishers were required to provide at their own expense a copy of every publication to the British Library and each of five other designated deposit libraries: the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales, the Bodleian Library at Oxford University, Cambridge University Library and Trinity College Dublin. The definition of publication encompassed

every part of a book, pamphlet, sheet of letterpress, sheet of music, map, plan, chart or table that is separately published.

In 1996 the British Library sought extension of legal deposit to non-print material, resulting in the 1998 report by a Working Party on Legal Deposit for the Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport. That report recommended development of a code of practice for the voluntary deposit of electronic publications, commenting that in the longer term statutory deposit would be required.

The resultant Code of Practice for the Voluntary Deposit of Non-Print Publications, in effect from January 2000, was broadly endorsed by the UK publishers and libraries. It centres on the deposit of microforms and physical format electronic publications, reflected in the Legal Deposit Libraries Act's emphasis on 'offline materials' such as "electronic publications issued on magnetic tapes, magnetic disks, or optical disks". The legislation provides for deposit of those publications "in the form in which they are made available to the public, together with anything else that is required to enable them to be used".

The UK Crown Copyright regime - discussed here - encourages reproduction of legislation and parliamentary proceedings on a value-added basis, with publishers generally required to supply a minimum of two complimentary copies to the House of Lords Library and an end-user licence for use of electronic products within the parliament.

Theatrical scripts were formerly deposited with the Lord Chamberlain's Office, discussed in our examination of censorship. The Theatres Act 1968 stipulates that a copy of every script performed in a UK licensed venue from September 1968 onwards must be deposited at the British Library, with what is now the derisory penalty of a £5 fine.

     US

In the United States mandatory deposit requirements - with items being provided to the Library of Congress - are long-standing and reflected in the US copyright registration scheme. They centre on Section 407 (PDF) of the Copyright Act of 1976 and associated Code. Physical format electronic publications have been covered in principle since 1988. There is no requirement for deposit of online content. As with most nations, requirements for CD-ROMs include all associated material. Use of CD-ROM publications is covered by item-specific agreements about whether that work can be networked.

     Singapore and Malaysia

In Singapore Chapter 197 of the National Library Board Act 1995 requires the publisher to deposit two copies of every publication published in Singapore with the National Library Board, at their own expense, within four weeks from the date of publication.

The main purpose of the provisions is characterised as "to preserve the nation's literary heritage and make them accessible to present and future generations". The legislation covers "all print and non-print materials that are published or produced in Singapore, intended for sale or public distribution". It encompasses books, magazines, annual reports, newsletters and bulletins, music scores, posters, CD-ROMs, video and audio cassettes.

Malaysia's Deposit of Library Material Act 1986 (here) provides for the National Library to receive copies of publications in

any form of printed, graphic. audio, electronic or other media, on or in which information is written, recorded, stored, displayed or produced [including] ... books, serials, maps, charts and posters ... non-printed library material including cinematograph films, microforms, phonographic records, video and audio recordings and other electronic media

Five copies of books and other printed material are to be deposited, with two copies of non-printed material such as sound recordings.

     Japan

Legal deposit in Japan is covered by the 1948 National Diet Library Law, which obligates publishers of Japanese books, pamphlets, serials, music scores, maps, charts films and phonographic records and "Texts, images, sounds, or programs recorded by electronic, magnetic, or other methods which cannot be directly perceived by human senses" to deposit a copy in the paliamentary library. Japan is unusual in that publishers receive a nominal payment, covering the cost of printing and postage.

The Japanese regime features a Legal Deposit System Council (LDSC), established in 1999 following recommendations by a Legal Deposit System Research Council regarding the shape of legal deposit for electronic publications. Consistent with many overseas counterparts, the Council called for legal deposit of physical format electronic publications but suggested that online content be acquired through individual contract.

     India

In India the Delivery of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act 1954 requires deposit with the National Library at Calcutta and any three other depository libraries. The legislation covers

any volume, part or division of a volume and pamphlet, in any language, and every sheet of music, map, chart or plan separately printed or lithographed

and "any printed periodical work containing public news or comments on public news published in conformity" with the Press and Registration of Books Act 1867.

     Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Under the 1969 Gesetz über die Deutsche Bibliothek German publishers are required to deposit two copies of print, microform and physical format electronic publications with Die Deutsche Bibliothek, ie the national library. The regime was extended to sound recordings in 1973. Guidelines for voluntary deposit of online content, under the auspices of the Task Group on the Electronic Deposit Library, were issued in 2000. Those guidelines currently rely on item by item agreements.

Deposit in some Länder (state) libraries is required under non-federal legislation.

In Austria the 2000 media legislation (PDF) broadens legal deposit provisions to include physical format electronic publications but does not cover the deposit of online and networked digital material. The Austrian Online Archive (AOLA) project, under the auspices of the Austrian National Library, is exploring periodic harvesting of publicly available websites.

Switzerland currently has no Federal legal deposit legislation for any type of published material.  Some cantons have separate legal deposit legislation, generally covering only print material.  

     France

The French regime provides that publishers and printers deposit copies with the national and provincial libraries: publishers deposit four copies with the Bibliothèque Nationale, printers deposit two copies with each of 30 regional libraries across.

The Loi du 20 juin 1992 relative au dépôt légal (here), revising the legal deposit legislation, came into force in 1994. It requires legal deposit of printed, graphic, photographic, sound, audiovisual and multimedia documents, whatever the technical means of production, as soon as they are made accessible to the public by the publication of a physical carrier.

The legislation does not cover online electronic publications. Deposit of CD-ROMs has been enforced since 1994. Access policies restrict networking of those items. France's legal deposit advisory body, the Conseil scientifique du dépôt légal (CSDL) recommended in 2000 that the legislation be extended to include online content.

     Denmark

Denmark's Act on Copyright Deposit of Published Works (here), in effect from 1998, replaced the 1927 Copyright Deposit of Printed Matter to Public Libraries Act. The depository institution is the Royal Library of Denmark. It aims to cover all published material (including physical format electronic publications and static internet content) but does not cover dynamic online electronic documents. Archived internet content is viewable only on stand-alone devices in the Library and cannot be copied by users.

The regime is discussed in Birgit Henriksen's 1999 paper on Legal Deposit on the Internet: A Case Study (PDF).

     Sweden, Finland and Norway

Sweden's 1993 Legal Deposit Act (here) covers print, audio-visual and physical format electronic publications. An earlier Legal Deposit Act, in 1978, also established the National Archive of Recorded Sound and Moving Images.

Amendments to extend the 1993 coverage to online content have not progressed. A special decree of 2002 instead authorises the Royal Library of Sweden to collect Swedish sites on the net, with public access to that content on its premises. The decree reflects the library's Kulturarw3 project, launched in 1996, centred on automated harvesting of those sites.

The Netherlands, as one of the few countries in the world without legal deposit legislation, relies on voluntary arrangements. Deposit is based on individual agreements with publishers under the auspices of the national publishers association. Most Dutch printed material is deposited with the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB). A voluntary deposit scheme for physical format electronic publications such as CD-ROMs and magnetic disks commenced in 1996.

A 1999 general arrangement (PDF) for voluntary deposit of electronic publications extended that scheme to cover online and offline materials. Dynamic content is in principle covered by the agreement but will not be sought until technical problems are fully addressed. Access to electronic deposit publications is available from KB premises only.

Belgium's Legal Deposit law dates from 1965 and is essentially concerned with printed works. Amendment is currently under consideration. The law provides for deposit of a single copy in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek van België, the federal library.

     Spain

In Spain the 1971 Act regarding the Instituto Bibliografico Hispanico covers legal deposit of books, periodicals, sound recordings and motion pictures in the national repository. Particular provinces have enacted supplementary legislation.

     South Africa

::