Legal deposit

Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary repository 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.

The legislation covering the requirement varies from country to country, but is often enshrined in copyright law. Until the late 20th century, legal deposit covered only printed and sometimes audio-visual materials, but in the 21st century, most countries have had to extend their legislation to cover digital documents as well. 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.^[1]^[2]

The number of books deposited in national legal repositories increased from 2.4 million in 2018 to 2.7 million in 2019, mainly due to a substantial growth in digital deposits. ^[3]

^ Larivière, Jules (20 October 2000). "Guidelines for Legal Deposit Legislation". International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (Revised, enlarged and updated ed.). Paris. Retrieved 5 May 2020. A revised, enlarged and updated edition of the 1981 publication by Dr. Jean LUNN IFLA Committee on Cataloguing
^ Larivière, Jules (20 October 2000). "Guidelines for Legal Deposit Legislation" (pdf). UNESCO (Revised, enlarged and updated ed.). Paris. Retrieved 5 May 2020. A revised, enlarged and updated edition of the 1981 publication by Dr. Jean LUNN IFLA Committee on Cataloguing
^ "The Global Publishing Industry in 2020". www.wipo.int. WIPO. 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-13.

[ifla-1] Larivière, Jules (20 October 2000). "Guidelines for Legal Deposit Legislation". International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) (Revised, enlarged and updated ed.). Paris. Retrieved 5 May 2020. A revised, enlarged and updated edition of the 1981 publication by Dr. Jean LUNN IFLA Committee on Cataloguing

[unesco-2] Larivière, Jules (20 October 2000). "Guidelines for Legal Deposit Legislation" (pdf). UNESCO (Revised, enlarged and updated ed.). Paris. Retrieved 5 May 2020. A revised, enlarged and updated edition of the 1981 publication by Dr. Jean LUNN IFLA Committee on Cataloguing

[3] "The Global Publishing Industry in 2020". www.wipo.int. WIPO. 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-13.

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