Legal deposit libraries work together to ensure the long-term preservation of UK publications in print and digital form. They shall ensure that publications are kept secure and can be discovered and accessed by readers. The Copyright Act 1968 and each state`s legal deposit legislation[15] require publishers of all kinds to deposit copies of their publications with the National Library of Australia and the state or territorial library in their jurisdiction. Until the 21st century, this was true for all types of printed materials (and in some states, audio-visual formats as well). [16] On 17 February 2016, the federal provisions on legal deposit were extended (by Act No. 1 of 2016 on the revision of laws) to electronic publications of all kinds. [15] While as of July 2018, the Northern Territory was the only jurisdiction whose legislation explicitly mentioned “internet publications” (in its Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004), the Queensland Libraries Act 1988 and the Tasmanian Libraries Act 1984 were broad enough to include digital publications. [7] [17] Most states and territories have revised or amended existing legislation to extend it to digital publications. [16] [18] The State Library of South Australia requires that, whenever possible, electronic publications should not be printed, but deposited.
[9] In June 2019, New South Wales passed a new law, the Library Amendment Act 2019, which amended the Library Act 1939 and repealed the previous Legal Deposit Act, the Copyright Act 1879 (NSW). This change means that legal deposit now applies to all formats, including digital formats. [5] Legal deposit was introduced in New Zealand in 1903 and requires copies of all printed materials, offline materials (e.g. DVDs), Internet publications and websites to be sent to the National Library of New Zealand within 20 working days of publication. This process becomes legal under Part 4 of the National Library of New Zealand Act 2003 (Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa). [65] If more than 100 copies are printed in total, 2 copies must be submitted, otherwise 1. If the price of 1 copy is more than 1,000 NZD, only 1 copy is required. [66] Legal deposit was originally introduced for the development of royal library holdings and censorship.
During the eighteenth century, however, legal deposit became closely linked to copyright. The British Copyright Act of 1709 was the first copyright law. Copyright was introduced in the United States in 1790 and in France in 1793. [1] In the twentieth century, many countries introduced both legal deposit and copyright. In addition, regions designate local regional and provincial legal deposit libraries, which receive two additional copies and often inherit this status from their pre-reunification history. For example, the Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense has been the legal deposit library in Lombardy since 1788 (when it covered the Duchy of Milan) and the National Central Library in Florence since 1743 (for the Grand Duchy of Tuscany). The Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003[91] reaffirms section 15 of the Copyright Act 1911,[92] which requires that a copy of every book published therein (including brochures, periodicals, newspapers, sheet music and maps) be sent to the British Library. The other five depository libraries have the right to request a free copy within one year of publication, a procedure which they normally coordinate jointly through the Agency for Legal Deposit Libraries. The 2003 Act contains provisions for the deposit of works without printing. This legislation was updated with the introduction of secondary legislation, The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations 2013,[93] which provides for the legal deposit of works published online or offline in formats other than print, such as websites, blogs, electronic journals and CD-ROMs.
Social media content is included in the law, but not private messages sent through social media platforms. Video-only streaming sites are also exempt from the legislation. [94] In Colombia, Law 44 of 1993, Legislative Decree 460 of 16. March 1999 and Decree 2150 of 1995. These laws and decrees refer specifically to the National Library of Colombia. Creators of print, audio-visual and video productions must make available to the Library a certain number of copies of the works, whether made in Colombian territory or imported. As described in Circular 61, the requirement to file the registration is a copy of the identification parts of the computer program. However, in order to fulfill the legal deposit in accordance with § 407, a “complete copy” of the published work must be deposited. A complete copy is defined in the rules as a copy that contains all the elements that make up the unit of publication, even if one of these units is in the public domain.