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Legal deposit

Legal Deposit

Legal deposit (also termed ‘dépôt légal’ or ‘mandatory deposit’) is a statutory provision which obliges publishers to deposit copies of their publications in libraries in the country in which they are published. The principle of legal deposit is established in international convention and in the national legislation of many countries, and aims to ensure that access to a nation's published cultural material in libraries and archives is preserved.

Increasingly, material is being published in digital form: this material needs to be collected and preserved to ensure a complete record of a nation's published cultural material. The existence of networks, and the ease with which digital information may be distributed and copied, potentially enables multiple accesses to a single deposited piece of digital information. If legal deposit is applied to digital information, the protection of publishers' rights and investments needs to be considered. Information which is available online poses a further challenge as there is no physical item to 'deposit'.

Legal deposit legislation in many countries predates the current information age and requires a new legal framework in order to encompass digital publications. The complications associated with the collection and control of electronic materials, together with the lack of a comprehensive legal model, have made drafting appropriate legislation problematic and slow. Major issues to be considered include copyright, preservation requirements, public access, scope of coverage, method of collection, protection of publishers' rights, penalties, and implementation of revised legislation.

Legal Deposit in the digital environment

It could be argued that legal deposit has little relevance in a digital environment, where concepts such as place of publication, and indeed the definition of what constitutes a publication, are much more fluid than in the print environment. The Netherlands and Switzerland have never had legal deposit for print publications and are continuing voluntary deposit arrangements for digital publications. The KB has also successfully negotiated agreements with major STM publishers, who all have a global presence. Though very different in approach, Japan's Legal Deposit System Council also argued that networked publications were different and should not be treated the same as physical format publications. They recommended against incorporating networked publications in LD legislation as being 'inappropriate in light of the fundamental principles of the legal deposit system'.

Against these arguments, is the principle that both offline and online digital publications constitute a legitimate component of a nation's documentary heritage and is therefore a logical extension of a national library's mandate. In this way, legal deposit can be viewed as a convenient mechanism for enabling at least a fully representative sample of this new genre of publication to be collected and safeguarded.

Where legislation is not already enacted, voluntary deposit schemes have been developed in many countries. A model code endorsed by the Conference of European National Libraries and the Federation of European Publishers has been prepared to provide a model for the drafting of local voluntary deposit arrangements (CENL/FEP 2005). Automatic harvesting of country domain or targeted harvesting of specific themes or events of relevance to the country is also often used as a practical tool to gather the increasing quantities of online material being generated (see also web archiving).

Whether collecting through legal or voluntary deposit, or automatic harvesting, libraries have found it necessary to work closely with producers and owners of online material who constitute a much more diverse population than print publishers. This is a new and very different environment for both libraries and content producers so it is inevitable that there will be a period of adjustment for both sides.

While focussed on e-journals, a recent CLIR publication, E-Journal Archiving Metes and Bounds: a survey of the landscape, makes a good case for legal deposit, placing it within a wider context than it is sometimes regarded:

Although legal deposit may not be the silver-bullet solution to archiving e-journals, it is clearly an important component of the preservation matrix. If nothing else, a legal requirement that would force publishers to deposit e-journals in several national deposit systems (because of the international nature of publishing) would create pressure for standard submission formats and manifests for e-journal content. In addition, once material is preserved, it may be possible to revisit the trigger events that allow access to the content and even to permit remote access in narrow circumstances. (Kenney et al 2006. p.22-23)

Legal deposit legislation for digital publications was given further endorsement in a UNESCO resolution on the preservation of the digital heritage, which included a clause encouraging Member States of UNESCO to eventually adapt national legislations and regulations for national deposit so as to ensure the preservation of and the permanent access to digitally produced materials. (UNESCO 2001).

So legal deposit is generally accepted as still useful albeit with different parameters (the goal is usually not to be comprehensive, especially for online materials) and viewed as one component of a preservation matrix, rather than the sole mechanism for preserving digital materials.

Countries that have legislation in place that currently applies to offline but not online publications include the following:

  • Austria [in the process of drafting legislation to cover online publications]
  • Japan [collecting online publications through voluntary deposit]
  • Singapore [collecting online publications through voluntary deposit]

Countries that have enacted legislation that covers both offline and online digital publications, or that have a legislation process in train to accomplish this include the following:

  • Canada
  • Denmark
  • Finland*
  • France
  • Germany
  • Iceland
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • South Africa
  • Sweden**
  • United Kingdom
(* Came into force 1 January 2008)
(** Have received a Government decree which permits them to harvest the Swedish portion of the Internet.)

Other information that follows which will also assist national libraries considering action to amend their legislation includes:

  • Guidelines on preparing proposals
  • Survey reports on the Legal Deposit status and intentions of countries
  • Discussion papers on issues associated with extending legal deposit to digital publications
  • Case studies and experiences of specific countries in implementing revised legislation.

Some specific information about legal deposit of digital publications which relates to individual countries has been collected on this site:

Australia | Austria | Canada | China | Denmark | Finland | France | Germany | Iceland | Japan | The Netherlands | New Zealand | Norway | Portugal | Singapore | South Africa | Sweden | Switzerland | United Kingdom | U.S.A. |

General References
CENL/FEP (Conference of European National Librarians/Federation of European Publishers). 2005. Statement on the Development and Establishment of Voluntary Deposit Schemes for Electronic Publications. Approved by the Annual Conference of European National Librarians, Luxembourg, September 28-30, 2005. http://www.nlib.ee/cenl/docs/05-11CENLFEP_Draft_Statement050822_02.pdf
Kenney, A et al (2006). E-Journal Archiving Metes and Bounds: a survey of the landscape. CLIR pub 138. http://www.clir.org/PUBS/abstract/pub138abst.html
UNESCO General Conference. (2001). Draft resolution on the preservation of digital heritage. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001239/123975e.pdf
Verheul, I. (2006). Networking for Digital Preservation: current practice in 15 national libraries.IFLA Publications 119.
http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm>http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm

Australia

Under the Copyright Act, 1968, s. 201 (and various State Acts), one copy each of library materials published in Australia must be deposited with the National Library of Australia and the appropriate State library. For the purposes of Section 201, library material is defined as 'a book, periodical, newspaper, pamphlet, sheet of letter-press, sheet of music, map, plan, chart or table, being a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work'. The Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000, which came into effect on 4 March 2001, made no changes to these legal deposit provisions.

Current Commonwealth statutes do not cover electronic publications, therefore, although some States have legislation which includes some components of this category. No state has legislation which covers networked information, although relevant Acts in Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria define library materials more inclusively. In Tasmania, electronic publications and web pages are included in the broad definition of 'records' that are required for deposit under Section 22 of the Libraries Act 1984. These are stored and made accessible through the State Library of Tasmania's Our Digital Island website.

Prior to these initiatives, in 1995, the National Library and the National Film and Sound Archive made a joint submission to the Copyright Law Review Committee seeking:

  • endorsement of the principle of legal deposit
  • recognition of the principle of selection by the depository institution
  • the extension of the scope of publications covered by legislation to include all electronic formats
  • the extension of the definition of the term "publication".

In February 1999, the Copyright Law Review Committee released its report, Simplification of the Copyright ACT 1968. Part 2. Categorisation of subject matter and exclusive rights, and other issues. Legal deposit is dealt with as Issue 13. The following were among the numerous recommendations relating to legal deposit:

  • the definition of 'library material' be broadened to include audiovisual materials, and materials in electronic form
  • deposit of all materials remain compulsory
  • the National Library and the National Film and Sound Archive should not need to seek the authorisation of the copyright owner with respect to the storage of deposited material
  • under the revised scheme deposited materials be made available on the basis of restricted access; hard copy and electronic material should only be available for inspection at the repository institution

These recommendations, however, as they apply to legal deposit, were not incorporated into the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000.

A review into the feasibility of extending the current legal deposit scheme to include audiovisual and electronic material is currently being undertaken. A discussion paper was released in October 2007 with submissions closing 2 May 2008.

Austria

The Austrian Media Act (Bundesgesetzblatt, 314, 1981) defines media as 'any means for publication of information or representations of thoughts by means of word, writing, sound or image, to a major audience by means of mass production or mass publication. (§1 (1))

Offline publications are currently deposited with the Austrian National Library and the Federal Chancellery of Austria has formed a working group to draft a legal deposit law for online publications. In the meantime, plans for a web harvesting project are proceeding and a feasibility study (which will include legal aspects of web archiving) has been commissioned. The Austrian National Library is planning a combination of domain harvesting (.at) and harvesting of selected websites that relate to the collection policy.

References
Austrian Media Act
http://www.ris.bka.gv.at/erv/erv_1981_314.pdf

Canada

In 1994-95, Canada conducted an Electronic Publications Pilot Project (EPPP) to examine the issue of the deposit of online electronic publications. After completion of this project Library and Archives Canada continued to collect electronic publications on a voluntary deposit basis until the Library and Archives of Canada Act of 2004 extended legal deposit to online publications. The Act defines 'documentary heritage' as publications and records of interest to Canada. 'Publication' means any library matter that is made available in multiple copies or at multiple locations, whether without charge or otherwise, to the public generally or to qualifying members of the public by subscription or otherwise. Publications may be made available through any medium and may be in any form, including printed material, online items or recordings. (Library and Archives of Canada Act 2004, c.11, s.2)

Online publications are defined as 'usually having a distinct title, a specific author, a specific date, and are intended for public consumption.' (LAC Guidelines for Legal Deposit of Online Publications 2004). The reworked Legal Deposit of Publications Regulations introduced in January 2007 expand on the legal deposit provisions of the Act. These regulations more broadly define publishers as 'a person who makes a publication available in Canada that the person is authorised to reproduce or over which the person controls the content. It does not include a person who only distributes a publication.' (Legal Deposit of Publications Regulations, s.1). For online publications especially, the regulations requires publishers to ready the online publication for deposit by decrypting encrypted data, removing or disabling systems designed to restrict or limit access to the publication, and where available to also deposit available metadata at the same time. (Geist 2007).

References
Geist, Michael. 2007. 'Centuries old Program enters the 21st Century'.
http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/1612/159/
LAC Guidelines for Legal Deposit of Online Publications, 2004
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/electroniccollection/003008-1000-e.html
Legal Deposit of Publications Regulations (SOR/2006-337).
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showtdm/cr/SOR-2006-337
Library and Archives of Canada Act (2004, c.11).
http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/L-7.7///en?page=1
Library and Archives Canada. 2005. Collection Development Framework.
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/collection/024/003024-200-e.html
Library and Archives Canada. 2006. Digital Collection Development Policy.
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/collection/003-200-e.html

China

There is no legal deposit law in China but in 1996, the National Copyright Administration of China issued a notice on deposit of electronic publications (Verheul, 2006). The NLC is participating in a national project, the China Info Mall project, which focuses on preserving internet resources. The project was launched in 2001 and, as of 2006 held c. 1 billion pages (15TB). All archived data are freely accessible to the public.

References
Gu, Ben (2006). ‘National Bibliographies: the Chinese experience’. 72nd IFLA General Council and Conference, Seoul.
http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla72/papers/109-Gu-en.pdf
NLC website.
http://www.nlc.gov.cn/old/old/english.htm
Verheul, I. (2006). Networking for Digital Preservation: Current Practice in 15 National Libraries. IFLA Publications 119.p.99-108
http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm>http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm

Denmark

Legal deposit of Danish digital materials is governed by the 2004 Act on Legal Deposit of Published Material. The Act encompasses printed works, offline digital publications, and materials published online (permitting harvesting of the Danish part of the internet) as well as Radio, TV and Movies. This updates the previous Act of 1997, which provided a broad definition of published works, including both offline and online publications. The Act defines online publications to be Danish when 'it is published from Internet domains etc. which are specifically assigned to Denmark, or it is published from other Internet domains etc. and is directed at a public in Denmark.' §8 of the Act relates to online materials 'Danish material published in electronic communication networks is subject to legal deposit. The legal deposit obligation is fulfilled by the legal deposit institution having access to request or produce copies of the material'. Other relevant legislation is the Act on Processing of Personal Data (Act No 429 of 31 May 2000), which governs access. Access to the net archive is limited to post-doc researchers and only for scholarly and statistical purposes. The netarchiv.dk website states that; 'The archive is not publicly accessible and initially can only be used for research purposes and with prior permission from the Danish Data Protection Agency'.

References
Act on Legal Deposit of Published Material. No.1439 of 22 December 2004
http://www.bs.dk/content.aspx?itemguid=%7B332484E6-A5B1-4CEE-B953-059843182050%7D
Denmark. Act of Legal Deposit of Published Materials. Act No1439 of 22 December 2004.
http://www.bs.dk/content.aspx?itemguid=%7B332484E6-A5B1-4CEE-B953-059843182050%7D
Denmark. Act on Processing of Personal Data. Act No. 429 of 31 May 2000
http://www.datatilsynet.dk/english/the-act-on-processing-of-personal-data/
Dupont, Henrik (1999). ‘Legal Deposit in Denmark: the new law and electronic products’. LIBER Quarterly,Vol 9, No2. p.244-251
http://liber-maps.kb.nl/articles/dupont11.htm
Netarchiv.dk.
http://netarkivet.dk/index-en.php
Verheul, I. (2006). Networking for Digital Preservation: Current Practice in 15 National Libraries. IFLA Publications 119.p.109-118
http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm>http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm

Finland

The new Act on Collecting and Preserving Cultural materials 1433/2007 came into force on 1 January 2008 replacing the earlier Legal Deposit Act 420/980 and Decree (774/1980), as well as the Act on the Archiving of Films (576/1984). The former (1980) legal deposit law did not include online publications, the definition of 'audiovisual' material could technically include offline publications, but they were not specifically included. The recent Copyright Act of 2005, which came into effect in January 2006 does permit archives, libraries and museums to produce copies of works for internal use using whatever technique necessary.

A Committee was formed to undertake work on drafting a new Legal Deposit Act and a draft was proposed in 2003. The new Act was delayed because of the contentious new Copyright Act which sought to implement the European Directive on Copyright. The draft Act defined online material as 'material made available to the public in an open network environment'. A publisher was defined as 'one on whose initiative and responsibility online materials are made available to the public.'

References
2005 amendment to the Finnish Copyright Act and Penal Code. Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2005_amendment_to_the_Finnish_Copyright_Act_and_Penal_ Code
Finland. Collecting and Preserving Cultual Materials Act 1433/2007
http://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2007/20071433_
Legal deposits to the National Library of Finland
http://www.nationallibrary.fi/publishers/deposit.html

France

France is usually credited with being the first country to introduce a system of mandatory deposit. Originally promulgated for printed books in 1537, legal deposit has been progressively extended to all types of materials of expression and creation, including new technologies as they appeared in France. After books, engravings, music scores, photographs, posters, audiovisual and multimedia documents, time has come to archive Web sites as well. (Legal Deposit: Five questions about Web Archiving at BnF). The French Parliament passed the Droit d'auteur et droits voisins dans la société de l'information (DADVSI) law in August 2006. This law extends legal deposit to the web for France. The Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF) and Institut national de l'Audiovisuel (INA) share this new responsibility, with the latter assuming responsibility for web material produced by broadcasting institutions such as radio and television. Clause 41 II of the Act states that 'Mandated institutions may collect material from the Internet by using automatic techniques or by setting specific agreements and deposit procedures with the producers'. The law also includes a clause which stipulates that no obstacle such as login, password or other forms of access restriction should be opposed to the Library by the producer (Web Archiving at BnF ). In terms of the web, a mixed model of bulk harvesting, selective and thematic crawls, and some individual e-deposits has developed. BnF is also the coordinating partner for the International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC).

References
DADVSI Law (Droit d’auteur et droits voisins dans la societe de l’information), 2006.
http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=MCCX0300082L
Legal deposit: five questions about Web Archiving at BnF
http://www.bnf.fr/pages/zNavigat/frame/version_anglaise.htm?ancre=english.htm
Verheul, I. (2006). Networking for Digital Preservation: Current Practice in 15 National Libraries. IFLA Publications 119.p.119-126
http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm>http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm

Germany

Gesetz uber Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek vom. 22. Juni 2006 (German National Library Law 2006) extended legal deposit to offline and online publications. The Act defines media works as 'all representations in text, image and sound that are distributed in material form or made accessible to the public in immaterial form.' §17 of the Act is a clause of Duty to provide information, 'When media works are deposited, depositors shall, on request, supply the Library with the information necessary for the performance of the Library's functions free of charge'. Prior to the 2006 Act, the German National Library had been collecting networked digital publications, including university dissertations and theses, on a voluntary basis. As indicated in their explanatory memorandum, they will be using automated methods to capture much of the German part of the web. In preparation for anticipated legal deposit of networked digital publications and also to accommodate digital materials collected through voluntary deposit arrangements, the German National Library has been involved in building a repository capable of securely storing large quantities of heterogeneous digital materials. The KOPAL began in 2004 and is expected to be completed in 2007. In addition, the German National Library is leading Nestor (Network of Expertise in Long-Term Storage of Digital Resources). Nestor began in 2003 with the aim of developing a cooperative approach to collecting and preserving German digital resources. The long-term goal is a permanent distributed infrastructure for long-term preservation and long-term accessibility of digital resources in Germany.

References
Draft Law regarding the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (non-official translation n.d).
http://www.d-nb.de/eng/wir/pdf/dnbg.pdf
Explanatory Memorandum to the Draft Act, n.d
http://www.d-nb.de/eng/wir/pdf/dnbg_begruendung_e.pdf
The German National Library in Brief
http://www.d-nb.de/eng/wir/ueber_dnb/dnb_im_ueberblick.htm

Iceland

The Iceland Legal Deposit Law has included electronic media since 1977, when the 1949 law was revised to include sound recordings, first on tapes and later on CD and video. The most recent revision of 2002 applies to documents published or shown in Iceland, including offline digital publications on portable media such as CD and diskettes, and also online publications. On December 5 2003, the Directive intended to clarify and explain the law was published. Paragraph 7 refers to digital works published on electronic media states that ‘Three copies of a work that is published on electronic media like a CD, diskette or equivalent shall be delivered and the publisher is responsible for the legal deposit. Paragraph 8 refers to online publications, ‘The publisher of a work available via a computer network (“Internet”) shall provide the legal deposit library with a password or other information that is necessary for the library to access the work. The legal deposit obligation is considered fulfilled if it is possible for the receiving library to obtain a copy of the work. The Act excludes computer programs unless they are published as part of another work to which legal deposit applies. The National Library of Iceland collects and preserves everything printed in Iceland (books, newspapers, journals, pamphlets, advertisements, etc), sound recordings in all forms, video and everything published on the Icelandic web domain .is.

References
Hallgrimsson, Thorstein (nd). The new Legal Deposit Law in Iceland. Unpub.
National Library of Iceland. About the Library
http://www.bok.hi.is/id/1011635

Japan

Legal deposit in Japan is covered by the National Diet Library Law, 1948 (as amended 1949). Under this statute copies of Japanese books, pamphlets, serials, musical scores, maps and phonographic records are required to be deposited in the National Diet Library, in return for which publishers are compensated the cost of printing and postage.

In 1997 an expert body was convened to investigate the establishment and administration of a legal deposit system for digital publications. The Legal Deposit System Research Council's final report was issued in 1999, recommending that physical format digital publications be incorporated into legal deposit law, but that networked digital material be acquired selectively and by individual contract. In response to these recommendations, the National Diet Law was amended in 2000 to cover offline publications. Following a request in 2002 by the Chief Librarian for guidance on whether networked publications issued within Japan should be incorporated into the legal deposit system, the Legal Deposit System Council recommended against incorporating networked publications in legal deposit legislation as being 'inappropriate in light of the fundamental principles of the legal deposit system', which was considered to be appropriate only to physical publications. There was also expressed concern at legal and copyright implications and the potential 'chilling effect on free speech' if web publications were collected by law. (Legal Deposit System Council 2004). Although not included in legal deposit legislation, the Legal Deposit System Council agreed with NDL that networked publications are increasingly important and recommended the selective collection of networked resources under contracts. The WARP(Web ARchiving Project) has has selectively collected Internet resources based on a thematic and events based approach, seeking permission from copyright holders before collecting the resources. The NDL also undertook a survey on the storage and archiving of Japanese websites with the objective of determining the feasibility of collecting, storing, and archiving Japanese websites. The total volume of Japanese websites was estimated at 18.4TB with 450 million files, as of March 2005.

References
Legal Deposit System Council (2004). Concept of the Acquisition System for the Networked Electronic Publications.
http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/aboutus/report_legaldeposit.pdf
National Diet Library (2007). ‘National Diet Library’s Projects of Collecting, Preserving and Providing Internet Resources.’ CDNLAO Newsletter No 58, March.
http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/publication/cdnlao/058/582.html
National Diet Library (2005). ‘Survey on Comprehensive Collection, Storage, and Archiving of Japanese Web Sites’.
http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/aboutus/bulkresearch2005summary_e.html
National Diet Library Law.
http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/aboutus/laws.html

Netherlands

The Netherlands is one of the few countries in the world that does not have legal deposit legislation; instead, deposit is voluntary and based on bilateral agreements with publishers. Following an extended period of negotiation, most Dutch printed material is now deposited with the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National Library of the Netherlands).

In 1993, the Depot van Nederlandse Elecktronische Publicaties (DNEP) project to build a system for the deposit of the country's digital publications was established. Negotiations with the Dutch Publishers Association (NUV) to create a voluntary deposit scheme for electronic publications began in 1994, and storage of offline materials such as CD-ROMs and magnetic and optical disks followed in 1996.

In 1999, a general arrangement for the voluntary deposit of electronic publications was concluded between the Koninklijke Bibliotheek and the NUV, for both online and offline materials. In the same year, agreements were signed with Elsevier Science and Kluwer Academic, two international publishers of Dutch origin. Since this time, the KB has extended these agreements to include all journals produced by the and have since negotiated agreements with other major STM publishers. As of June 2007, the KB has archiving agreements with ten publishers which are: Elsevier; Kluwer Academic; BioMed Central; Blackwell Publishing; Oxford University press; Taylor & Francis; Sage Publications; Springer; Brill Academic Publishers; IOS Press (Archiving agreements with publishers). Digital publications are stored in the e-Depot, a repository developed in collaboration with IBM and designed to safely store large quantities of digital material which will be preserved for the long-term (e-Depot and digital preservation).

The KB makes it clear in their Strategic Plan 2006-2009 that they regard the geographic boundaries inherent in traditional deposit as increasingly irrelevant in the digital environment. The model they envisage involves a limited number of 'safe places' capable of achieving certification once an international standard is developed, who will together provide a more structured approach to preserving the world's digital scientific publications (KB Strategic Plan 2006-2009). A project on selective archiving of Dutch websites began in 2005.

References
Archiving agreements with publishers
http://www.kb.nl/dnp/e-depot/dm/uitgevers-en.html
e-Depot and digital preservation
http://www.kb.nl/dnp/e-depot/e-depot-en.html
KB Strategic plan Koninklijke Bibliotheek 2006-2009
http://www.kb.nl/bst/beleid/bp/2006/2006-en.html
Verheul, I. (2006). Networking for Digital Preservation: Current Practice in 15 National Libraries. IFLA Publications 119.p.145-154)
http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm>http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm

New Zealand

In New Zealand legal deposit is covered in Part 4 of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa Act 2003 which came into force on 5 May 2003. It replaces the National Library Act 1965.

The 2003 legislation applies to public documents (defined in the Act) issued in print, or electronic (physical format or online) form. It provides for the deposit of physical format documents and for the copying of Internet documents.

The Act also permits Library staff to "possess, copy, store in electronic form (whether off-line or on-line), and use" a document given to or made by the Library. In addition, Section 34 (3) of the Act specifies that the Library may make up to three copies of a deposited document available for use by members of the public, on or off the Library's own premises. However, a document must not be made available on the Internet except if it has been made publicly available there by the publisher without restriction. In this case, the Library may make the document available on the Internet for access and use by the public.

The law relating to copyright applies to every deposited document except in the case of copying and making available Internet documents which are treated as exceptions to copyright law.

The 2003 Act included a requirement to consult widely with publishers or representatives of publishers before the extension of legal deposit to electronic publications could be officially gazetted (NLNZ Act 2003, s36 (1)). (Consultation is not required on the deposit of books to which section 30A of the previous Act would have applied if it had not been repealed.) The extension of legal deposit to electronic publications came into force in August 2006 and was not retrospective, though a voluntary deposit scheme had been introduced a year before. A Legal Deposit Code of Practice and fact sheet (NLNZ Legal Deposit Code of Practice) was also developed to assist in clarifying any potential confusion.

Currently the Library is developing its processes for the selection, acquisition, harvesting, description, storage and provision of access to physical format and online electronic documents. A selection database has been developed and test harvesting of websites has been undertaken. There is still substantial work required to develop the tools for processing websites to meet the criteria laid out by curators for determining and endorsing the final status of the object which is to be archived and preserved.
This work is being done in the light of similar projects underway internationally including the National Library of Australia's PANDORA project (for selective web harvesting), the Royal Library of Sweden's Kulturarw3 project (for whole-of-domain harvesting), the Nordic Web Archive (for whole-of-domain harvesting) and the Library of Congress's Minerva project (for selective web harvesting).

References
National Library of New Zealand. Legal Deposit Code of Practice
http://www.natlib.govt.nz/catalogues/library-documents/legal-deposit-code-of-practice
National Library of New Zealand Act 2003
http://www.natlib.govt.nz/catalogues/library-documents/nlnz-act-03
National Library Requirements (Electronic Documents) Notice 2006.
http://www.natlib.govt.nz/catalogues/library-documents/national-library-requirement-electronic-documents-notice-2006
Searle, Lois (2007). ‘E-Legal Deposit in New Zealand: the Extension of Legal Deposit to Electronic Publications in New Zealand. Unpub
Verheul, I. (2006). Networking for Digital Preservation: Current Practice in 15 National Libraries. IFLA Publications 119.p.155-166
http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm>http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm

Norway

The Norwegian Legal Deposit Act (Pliktavleveringsloven) of 9 June 1989 came into effect on 1 July 1990. and is one of the first legal deposit acts to include digital publications, both offline and online. The statute applies to printed materials, sound recordings, films, videos, and certain digital publications. Physical format electronic documents and internet documents, both static and dynamic, are encompassed by the provisions. The legislation, which covers any works which can be read, heard, broadcast or transmitted, is written in such a way that it will also be applicable to future electronic formats. Offline digital documents of which at least 50 copies have been made or imported, are subject to deposit. Online digital documents 'which are available by means of on-line transmission on a telecommunications, television, data communications network or the like are subject to deposit at the request of the depository in each individual case'. Section 1 of the Act restricts access to source material for purposes of research and documentation. These terms are not defined in the Act itself. Chapter 9 of the Act's regulations relates to Electronic Documents and specifies that two copies be deposited. As a more recent article notes, this was clearly written before the advent of the web and is not feasible (van Nuys 2003). From 2005, harvesting of the whole Norwegian domain has been carried out once a year to ensure the preservation of snapshots of how the Norwegian Internet domain looked at a specific time. A more selective harvesting approach is also being used, with harvesting of all Norwegian Internet newspapers on a daily basis from 2006 and frequent harvesting of all Norwegian net periodicals, also from 2006. Events based harvesting, for example elections, royal weddings, has also taken place.

The Personal Data Act of 2000 further restricts access because of the potential for personal information to be contained in online documents. This means that the NLN needs a licence from the Norwegian Data Inspectorate before the web archive can be made available to research and documentation onsite. In a recent article, Rustad (2006) indicates that 'The matter of future access to the web archive is now under consideration by the National Library.'

References
Norway. Legal Deposit Act. 1989.
http://www.nb.no/fag/for_utgjevarar_og_trykkeri/pliktavlevering/legal_deposit
Rustad, K(2006). ‘Our digital heritage as source material to end users: collection of and access to net publications in the National Library of Norway’. Collection Building, Vol. 25 No 3.p.89-94
Van Nuys, C (2003). ‘The Paradigma Project. ‘ RLG DigiNews Volume 7 (2)
http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/v7_n2_feature2.html

Portugal

The current (1986) legal deposit law in Portugal does not cover the deposit of digital publications but the Biblioteca Nacional (BN) is involved in developing models for the voluntary deposit of offline digital publications. Offline digital publications have been voluntarily deposited and are incorporated into the National Library's holdings. A new legal deposit law is under preparation and is expected to be enacted in 2008. It will cover offline publications and possibly a selective deposit of online materials from the .pt domain. Since 2000 BN has had a fully operational system for offline and online digital publications. At the moment BN is building an internal digital repository for preservation and access. These plans arise from the activities BN has developed in the National Digital Library Initiative (Verheul 2006). Since 2002, with the launch of the National Digital Library, a number of born digital publications have been included in this service, as well as digitised collections. Also in 2002, the National Library provided an online system for the voluntary deposit of digital theses and dissertations (DITED).

References
Deposito de Dissertacoes e Teses Digitais (DITED) (in Portuguese)
http://dited.bn.pt/
National Library of Portugal. History of Legal Deposit (in Portuguese).
http://www.bn.pt/servicos-ao-publico/sp-deposito-legal.html
National Library of Portugal. National Digital Library (in Portuguese).
http://www.bn.pt/
Verheul, I. (2006). Networking for Digital Preservation: Current Practice in 15 National Libraries. IFLA Publications 119.p.167-172
http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm>http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm

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. (Caslon Analytics legal deposit 2005). It does not include online publications as yet, though a proposal to extend the law to cover all electronic publications, including online, has been prepared (Chow and Siew Kim 2006).

An ongoing programme to harvest Singapore-related web contents began in 2006. It will focus on whole domain archiving of all .sg websites in 2007, estimated at 70,000 registered domains as at December 2006 (Lian San 2007). A Task Force on Legal Deposit of Materials was set up in July 2004 tasked with reviewing NLB's policy and functions, improving awareness of legal deposit, and improving coverage of the national heritage, including new formats not currently covered by the legislation. Recommendations from the Task Force included adopting an interim measure to collect electronic publications through a voluntary deposit scheme. A series of quarterly sessions have been held with publishers since April 2006. The purpose of these sessions is to enhance awareness of legal deposit and also to encourage the voluntary deposit of online publications (Chow and Siew Kim 2006).

References
Caslon Analytics legal deposit (2005). Singapore and Malaysia.
http://www.caslon.com.au/depositprofile7.htm
Chow, Lily and Lim Siew Kim (2006). ‘The Legal Deposit in Singapore’. CDNLAO Newsletter No 56, July 2006
http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/publication/cdnlao/056/564.html
Lian San, Siow. (2007). ‘Archiving and Preserving Online Publications @ National Library, Singapore’. CDNLAO Newsletter No 58, March 2007
http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/publication/cdnlao/058/585.html
Seow Leng, Ang (2005). ‘National Library of Singapore Reopens in July with new Lee Kong Chian Reference Library’. CDNLAO Newsletter No 53, July 2005
http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/publication/cdnlao/053/537.html

South Africa

South Africa's Legal Deposit Act, 1997 came into operation on 1 July 1998, and is administered by the Department of Art, Culture, Science & Technology's Subdirectorate of Meta-information. The broad definition of 'document' and interpretation of the term 'medium' enables the Act to apply to electronic publications available in both physical format and online. In the legislation 'document' is defined as 'any object which is intended to store or convey information in textual, graphic, visual, auditory or other intelligible format through any medium …'. A 'medium' is interpreted as 'any means of recording or transmitting information intended for subsequent reading, listening or viewing'. Due to the technical and administrative challenges associated with the deposit of dynamic electronic publications, online electronic materials are presently only subject to deposit when specifically requested by the National Library of South Africa.

References
South Africa. Legal Deposit Act No 54 of 1997.
http://www.dac.gov.za/acts/a54-97.pdf

Sweden

The National Library of Sweden was one of the first libraries to extend legal deposit provisions to offline digital media, in 1993, with an amendment in 1995. The Legal Deposit Act of 1993 (and 1995 amendment) requires legal deposit of electronic documents available in physical format, such as optical disks. Online electronic documents, like those found on the internet, are not covered by this legislation. A printed report on the collection of online documents was released in January 1999, and in 2000 amendments to legal deposit provisions were discussed as part of a research and development bill (Forskning och förnyelse).

The Royal Library of Sweden instituted theKulturarw3 (Cultural Heritage Cubed) project in 1996. This project is investigating the long-term preservation of published electronic documents. It approaches the collection of electronic information by actively harvesting as much as possible in the first instance, then weeding out what is not wanted. A special decree by the Swedish government, accepted on May 8, 2002, authorised the Royal Library of Sweden to collect Swedish web sites on the Internet and to allow the public access to the archive within the library premises.

The whole Swedish part of the internet is harvested twice a year and in addition, 140 Swedish newspapers are harvested daily. The harvested part of the archive totalled c. 600 million objects as of March 2007. Other digital objects are ingested based on an agreement with organisations representing agencies, universities, university consortia, and publishers. The National Library collects material with a Swedish link, either .se domain or a generic Top Level Domain provided the server has a Swedish address.

The National Library is involved in discussions with the Ministry of Education regarding legal deposit legislation for digital publications. A matter of current concern is the issue of copyright as it relates to access rights and also the future management and access of password protected digital publications. There are activities leading to closer cooperation with universities and their institutional repositories and also with agencies.

References
Kulturarw project
http://www.kb.se/english/find/internet/websites/
Lunden, Tomas (2005). ‘Electronic Publications – Access Now and in the Future’. A Seminar at the Royal Library, Sweden, 18 October 2005.
http://www.sciecom.org/sciecominfo/artiklar/lunden_05_03.shtml
National Library of Sweden. Digital Deposit: a project 2005-2006.
http://www.kb.se/english/about/projects/digital/
Press Release (2002). New decree for Kulturarw3
http://web.archive.org/web/20020803234652/http://www.kb.se/Info/Pressmed/Arkiv/2002/020605_eng.htm

Switzerland

Like the Netherlands, Switzerland has no legal deposit legislation for any publications, print or digital. An agreement was signed with the Swiss Booksellers and Publishers Association in which publishers agree to deposit one copy of each publication with the National Library. This agreement does not include digital publications at this stage. There is no provision for the comprehensive collection of digital publications yet. The project e-helvetica is in its pilot phase.

References
National Library of Switzerland. National Library of Switzerland. Mandate
http://www.nb.admin.ch/slb/org/auftrag/index.html?lang=en
Verheul,I. (2006). Networking for Digital Preservation: Current Practice in 15 National Libraries. IFLA Publications 119.p.194
http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm>http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm

United Kingdom

Under the United Kingdom's Copyright Act 1911, publishers have a legal obligation to send one copy of each of their publications to the British Library and five other designated deposit libraries. In 1996 the British Library submitted to the then Department of National Heritage proposals for the extension of legal deposit to non-print material.

As a result of these proposals, and following a public consultation process, in January 1998 the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport set up a Working Party on Legal Deposit. The Working Party's report was published in December 1998 and recommended that a code of practice for the voluntary deposit of electronic publications should be drafted, but that in the longer term statutory deposit would be required in order to secure a comprehensive national published archive. The resultant Code of Practice for the Voluntary Deposit of Non-Print Publications came into effect in January 2000, endorsed by the various UK publisher trade bodies and legal deposit libraries. The Legal Deposit Libraries Act received royal assent in 2003. However implementation of the Act is subject to the development of regulations which have yet to be developed (as of June 2007).

Pending the development of regulations, the Joint Committee on Legal Deposit (JCLD), a committee of representatives from the library and publishing sector continues the work of the previous committee which oversaw the introduction of the voluntary deposit scheme. This Committee is working in parallel with an independent Legal Deposit Advisory Panel (LDAP), established by the Department in 2005, to provide advice on the regulations for the Act.

In February 2007, LDAP relaunched the voluntary deposit scheme for offline publications (initially established in January 2000), which they will monitor before deciding whether regulations are required. A voluntary deposit scheme for e-journals is also being developed by a joint JCLD and LDAP group following a successful e-journals archiving pilot scheme undertaken in 2005 with 23 publishers providing content from 200 journals.

Selective web archiving has been undertaken since its Domain UK project in 2001-2002. This was a pilot project which collected 100 websites over the course of the project. Since then, the BL has been involved in selective harvesting of websites both through their own web archiving programme and through the UK Web Archiving Consortium (UKWAC). The British Library archives sites of research value reflecting national culture, events of historical importance, and a selection demonstrating innovative website design. Their current strategy is to take a complete snapshot of the UK domain at regular intervals and to selectively harvest other websites, with the permission of the owner.

A large scale Digital Object Management System is also under construction and will be capable of storing and preserving large scale heterogeneous digital objects. The digital objects stored in this repository will include all digital material received as voluntary and legal deposit, digital materials purchased and the output of the BL's digitisation programme. The British Library is working closely with the National Library of Wales on this initiative.

In their latest Strategy document Redefining the Library: The British Library's strategy 2005-2008, the BL identifies six strategic priorities, one of which is to 'build the digital research environment' and the other is to 'grow and manage the national collection'. Collaboration features heavily in the achievement of both priorities. Collaborating across the research community to guarantee that both text-based and data-based research outputs are preserved and available for the researchers of tomorrow is one of the actions and benefits articulated. 'Implementing electronic legal deposit 'is identified as another key area, which will also involve collaborating across the other deposit libraries to build and test a secure digital infrastructure.

References
British Library. Code of practice for the voluntary deposit of non-print publications
http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/stratpolprog/legaldep/voluntarydeposit/index.html
British Library. Legal Deposit at the British Library.
http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/stratpolprog/legaldep/
British Library. Redefining the Library: The British Library’s strategy 2005-2008
http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/stratpolprog/redeflib/
Explanatory Notes to Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003. Chapter 28
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/en2003/2003en28.htm
Field, C (2004). ‘Securing Digital Legal Deposit in the UK: The Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003’. Alexandria 16(2). p.87-111
Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003, Chapter 28
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/20030028.htm
Legal Deposit Advisory Panel
http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/Libraries/legal_deposit/
Tuck, J (2006). ‘Collecting, selecting and legal deposit.’ DPC Forum on Web Archiving, 12th June 2006.
http://www.dpconline.org/docs/events/060612Tuck.pdf

U.S.A.

In the United States mandatory deposit requirements are found in Section 407 of the Copyright Act of 1976. These provisions are equivalent to the legal deposit laws that operate in other countries. Through the Code of Federal Regulations, certain categories of materials are exempted from deposit requirements. The exemption for material published solely in machine readable form was revoked in 1988, from which time deposit has been required of certain publicly available physical format electronic material, such as magnetic tapes, CD-ROMs and microforms. For CD-ROMs the complete package is required: this includes all accompanying documentation and a printed version if it is available. Voluntary CD-ROM agreements stipulating how the Library can use items deposited in this format were introduced in 1993. Mandatory deposit is not yet applied to online electronic works.

While outside the scope of legal deposit laws, a Section 108 Study Group was established in 2005 with the goal of making recommendations for revising the 1976 US copyrights law's exceptions for libraries and archives. The group's activities are co-sponsored by the Library of Congress and the US Copyright Office, though its conclusions and recommendations will be independent. Assuming the recommendations of the group are accepted and become legislation, they will have a significant impact on the use the Library of Congress will be able to make of the materials it receives under legal deposit. Section 108 of the Copyright Act permits libraries and archives to make certain uses of copyrighted materials in order to serve the public and ensure the availability of works over time. Among other things, Section 108 provides limited exceptions for libraries and archives to make copies in specified instances for preservation, replacement and patron access.

In addition, the Library of Congress has been charged by Congress with leading the National Digital Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP). The mission of the NDIIPP program is to:

  • Develop a national strategy to collect, archive and preserve the burgeoning amounts of digital content, especially materials that are created only in digital formats, for current and future generations.

NDIIPP has identified as priority the following types of digital information:
Geospatial data; websites; television; social science datasets; E-Journals; Historical materials.

Each of those types of material has been allocated designated NDIIPP partners who are focussing on one of these. NDIIPP is being managed by the recently established (2001) Office of Strategic Initiatives. Amongst other activities, NDIIPP is sponsoring several projects aimed at testing and developing infrastructure requirements and tools. It is also actively collaborating with other federal and non federal organisations.

References
NDIIPP
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/
Section 108 Study Group
http://www.loc.gov/section108/
Verheul, I.(2006). Networking for Digital Preservation: Current Practice in 15 National Libraries. IFLA Publications 119.p.207-225
http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm>http://www.ifla.org/V/pr/saur119.htm

Text last updated: August 2007

Guidelines | Surveys | General | Africa | Algeria | Australia | Austria | Canada | Denmark | Finland | France | Germany | Israel | Japan | Latvia | Netherlands | New Zealand | Norway | Scandinavia | Singapore | South Africa | Sweden | United Kingdom | United States of America

Guidelines

Safekept
Historical European Convention for the Protection of the Audiovisual Heritage and Protocol on the Protection of Television Productions ...
Council of Europe (Date Created: 06 Feb 2001)
This convention, which was issued by the European parliament in February 2001, provides for the safeguarding and preservation of European moving image heritage. Parties to the agreement are obliged to introduce legal or voluntary mechanisms for the deposit of audiovisual media in designated archival repositories in their territories. The text is broadly worded so that the legislation will apply to electronic and other new forms of audiovisual expression as they are created.
http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/184.htm
Historical Legal Deposit of Electronic Publications
Working Group of the Conference of Directors of National Libraries (CDNL) (Last Updated: 6 Mar 1997)
This paper suggests guidelines for National Libraries on how to prepare proposals for the legal deposit of electronic publications and how to store and maintain such publications. Included is a summary of developments worldwide and case studies from Canada, France and the USA.
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0010/001055/105504e.pdf

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Surveys

Historical Management of Networked Electronic Publications: A Table of Status in Various Countries
Martin, Elizabeth (Last Updated: Nov 2001)
A comparison of national libraries in sixteen countries on matters of deposit legislation and arrangements, approach and policy, plans, negotiations with publishers, access arrangements and implementation for networked electronic publications.
http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/lac-bac/consultation_online_publi
cations-ef/8/7/r7-100-e.html
Also available in PDF and RTF. Available in French at http://nlc-bnc.ca/obj/r7/f2/r7-100-f.pdf
Safekept
NEDLIB Local Situations
Borbinha, Jose Luis; Cardoso, Fernando; National Library of Portugal (Date Created: Jul 2000)
This report outlines the nature and regulation of digital publications (physical format and online) for each of the NEDLIB partner institutions. This includes information on the legal framework, cataloging practices, infrastructure, workflows, specific digital preservation approaches and other allied initiatives.
http://nedlib.kb.nl/results/local_situations_v2.htm

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General

Historical Archiving the Web - Some Legal Aspects
Kavcic-Colic, Alenka (Date Created: 21 Aug 2002)
A paper presented at the 68th IFLA General Conference and Council held in Glasgow, 18-24 August, 2002, discussing some legal aspects of archiving publications from the web. Copyright and legal deposit legislation are discussed with regard to rights implications for harvesting, public access and long-term preservation.
http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla68/papers/116-163e.pdf
Also available in French at http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla68/papers/116-163f.pdf
Case of the National Library of Jamaica in Implementing and Administering the Legal Deposit of Audiovisual and Multimedia Materials
Francis, Valerie; Webster-Prince, Maureen (Date Created: 06 Jun 2008)
This paper delivered at World Library and Information Congress, 74th IFLA General Conference and Council (10-14 August 2008, Québec, Canada) highlights provisions of the Legal Deposit Act (2002) which enabled the National Library of Jamaica to collect, promote, preserve and facilitate access to the nation’s recorded documentary heritage. Although currently focused on collection of audiovisual materials, the NLJ is also considering future Web harvesting which is not currently covered under the act.
http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla74/papers/095-Francis_Webster-Prince-en.pdf
Also available in French http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla74/papers/095-Francis_Webster-Prince-trans-fr.pdf
Safekept
Historical Copyright aspects of the preservation of electronic publications
Groeneveld, C.; Hugenholtz, P. B.; Koelman, K. J.; Westerbrink, B. N. (Date Created: 15 Feb 1998)
Instituut voor Informatierecht Report - 7. This is the report (40 p.) of a study commissioned by the National Library of the Netherlands. It examines "the copyright related problems which could impede efforts to preserve and maintain the accessibility of electronic data".
ISBN: 9074243-12-6
http://www.ivir.nl/publications/koelman/kbeng2.doc
Depósito legal de materiales audiovisuals: la situación latinoamericana
Sambaino, Samira (Date Created: 27 Jul 2008)
This paper delivered at World Library and Information Congress: 74th IFLA General Conference and Council (10-14 August 2008, Québec, Canada) provides an overview of the state of legal deposit legislation for audiovisual and multimedia materials and practices in Latin American countries. Countries surveyed in this study were Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla74/papers/095-Sambaino-es.pdf
Also available in English and French from http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla74/Programme2008.htm
Historical Implementing Legal Deposit of Electronic Publications in Africa: Progress Report from South Africa and Namibia
Letshela, Phegello Z; Lor, Peter J (Date Created: 20 Aug 2002)
A paper presented at the 68th IFLA General Conference and Council held in Glasgow, 18-24 August, 2002, providing a progress report on implementation of legal deposit legislation for electronic publications in Africa. With a legal framework already in place, the report focusses on achievements so far, problems and challenges in implementation, plans and actions taken to overcome these obstacles and possible assistance from successful implementations.
http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla68/papers/072-124e.pdf
Historical Legal Deposit and Preservation of Digital Publications : a Review of Research and Development Activity
Muir, Adrienne (Date Created: Sep 2001)
A review of legal deposit laws and digital preservation strategies.
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/EUM0000000007097
Available in Journal of Documentation, Vol. 57, No. 5, pp. 652-682 and online by subscription to Emeral Insight or ACM Portal.
Safekept
Historical Legal Issues Relating to the Archiving of Internet Resources in the UK, EU, USA and Australia : a Study Undertaken for the JISC and Wellcome Trust
Charlesworth, Andrew (Date Created: 25 Feb 2003)
Key legal issues such as copyright, data protection and defamation are discussed with emphasis on their application to the United Kingdom legal framework. The article also examines other approaches to web archiving, including several EU countries, the US and Australia. EU experience suggests that establishing legal deposit is highly desirable, US experience reveals that pragmatic approach is successful, but potentially full of legal controversies and Australian licensing approach although limited in its ability to deal with general harvesting of the web provides an acceptable degree of legal risk and allows selective archiving of both ‘shallow’ and ‘deep’ web resources. Also included is a series of recommendations for the JISC and Wellcome Trust regarding the archiving of UK materials.
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/uploaded_documents/archiving_legal.pdf
Historical Management of Networked Electronic Publications: A Table of Status in Various Countries
Martin, Elizabeth (Last Updated: Nov 2001)
A comparison of national libraries in sixteen countries on matters of deposit legislation and arrangements, approach and policy, plans, negotiations with publishers, access arrangements and implementation for networked electronic publications.
http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/lac-bac/consultation_online_publi
cations-ef/8/7/r7-100-e.html
Also available in PDF and RTF. Available in French at http://nlc-bnc.ca/obj/r7/f2/r7-100-f.pdf
Safekept
Historical Preserving the Present for the Future : Strategies for the Internet : Proceedings
Denmark's Electronic Research Library (Date Created: 22 Jun 2001) Has papers: Cyberculture, Cultural Asset Management, and Ethnohistory : Preserving the Process and Understanding the Past ; Legal Deposit from the Internet in Denmark : Experiences with the Law from 1997 and the Need for Adjustments
Papers from the Preserving the Present for the Future : Strategies for the Internet conference, held at the Royal Library, Copenhagen, 18-19 June 2001.
http://www.deflink.dk/eng/arkiv/dokumenter2.asp?id=695
Historical Standard for the Legal Deposit of Online Publications
Bergamin, Giovanni (Date Created: 4 Jun 1999)
Abstract in English; abstract in Italian available at: http://www.aib.it/aib/commiss/cnur/dliberga.htm
http://www.aib.it/aib/commiss/cnur/dleberga.htm
Safekept
Historical State of Legal Deposit Legislation
Deanna Marcum (Date Created: Jan 2000)
This paper, presented at Digital Archiving: Bringing Issues and Stakeholders Together Workshop, Paris, 30-31 January 2000, examines the legal deposit challenges of the digital environment. The need for a new legal mechanism for capturing and preserving eIectronic information is emphasised, and the issues of intellectual property rights, digital preservation, distributed repositories, authenticity and the changing relationships between publishers and libraries are addressed.
http://web.archive.org/web/20021016120841/www.icsti.org/2000workshop/m
arcum.html
Safekept
Historical TEL Digital Deposits : State of the Art Review
de Niet, Marco (Date Created: Dec 2001)
This report gives an overview of the digital deposit practices at national libraries throughout Europe in 2001. The report is based on a questionnaire which was sent to all 41 members of the Conference of European National Librarians (CENL). The report recommends a number of issues to be discussed by libraries in order to align their legal deposit practices. This report is followed up by the Report on Current Practices Among Publishers Regarding the Deposit of Digital Publications which includes a corresponding survey of the major publishers of digital publications whose names have been supplied by the CENL libraries.
http://www.theeuropeanlibrary.org/portal/organisation/cooperation/arch
ive%5Ctelproject_archive/pdf/tel_results_d11_v02.pdf
European Library Project WP1 - publisher relations, DEL/007
Historical Workshop on Issues in the Field of National Deposit Collections of Electronic Publications
Telematics for Libraries, European Commission (Date Created: 18 Dec 1995)
The establishment of deposit collections of electronic publications is a keystone in the strategy of long-term availability. This workshop brought together European national libraries, publishers and experts to discuss deposit collections of electronic publications. It was recognised that pilot projects need to develop practical solutions to the many questions remaining to be resolved in all areas of electronic deposit.
http://www.cordis.lu/libraries/en/depo-rpt.html

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Africa

Safekept
Historical South Africa Legal Deposit Act of 1997
Department of Arts & Culture, Republic of South Africa (Date Created: Nov 1997) (South Africa)
The South African Legal Deposit Act, 1997, which commenced on 1 July 1998, defines deposit documents broadly to encompass electronic publications and new technologies.
http://www.dac.gov.za/acts/a54-97.pdf

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Algeria

Historical Long-Term Preservation of ETDs in Algeria : Discussion Through CERIST Deposit System
Bakelli, Yahia; Benrahmoun, Sabrina (Date Created: May 2003) (Algeria)
In Algeria, an electonic copy of every Masters and PhD thesis must be deposited at CERIST (Research Centre on Science and Technical Information) as a condition of obtaining the qualification. This paper examines the issues of preservation and accessibility of these resources. The issues are examined within both an Algerian and international context.
http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/etd2003/bakelli-yahia/HTML/index.html

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Australia

2007 Discussion Paper on the Extension of Legal Deposit
Attorney General's Department; Department of Communications, Technology and the Arts (Date Created: Oct 2007) (Australia)
This discussion paper invites comment on the feasibility of extending the current Australian legal deposit scheme to include audiovisual and electronic material. It looks at the scope of the current Legal Deposit Scheme, and arrangements for collecting audiovisual and electronic material. Then it discusses how an extended scheme might operate. Submissions closed 2 May 2008 (after being extended from the original date of 11 January 2008).
http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/RWP6C58A15A095D9476CA2573720
0035E3E
Available for download in PDF or Microsoft Word from this website.
Historical First National Consultative Meeting on the Management of Australian Physical-Format Digital Publications
National Library of Australia (Last Updated: 16 Oct 1998) (Australia)
A National Consultative Meeting on the management of Australian physical-format digital publications brought together representatives from publishers, creators and the National and State Libraries. The meeting aimed to seek agreement on key principles and responsibilities related to the long-term access to digital publications in physical formats. Issues such as legal and voluntary deposit, copyright, access, licensing, collection development, cataloguing, and preservation paths were discussed and an action plan formalised to progress the development of strategies for the long-term preservation and access to significant Australian publications.
http://www.nla.gov.au/niac/meetings/physical.html
Safekept
Implementing an Open Jurisdictional Digital Repository - the STORS Project
Lavelle, Jan; Sokvitne, Lloyd In: D-Lib magazine (Date Created: Jun 2004) (Australia)
Operating within the legal deposit provisions of Tasmania, this article describes the State Library of Tasmania’s (Australia) development and implementation of an open jurisdictional digital repository for published electronic materials - the Stable Tasmanian Open Repository Service (STORS). Included in the paper is an overview of the publisher self-contribution model; a description of the content and format scope of STORS; explanations on metadata structure, risk management issues and software developments; as well as future considerations for STORS, including additional preservation data.
10.1045/june2004-sokvitne
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june04/sokvitne/06sokvitne.html
Legal Deposit in Australia
National Library of Australia (Last Updated: 1999) (Australia)
This article contains general information about legal deposit and the particular requirements of deposit libraries in each Australian state.
http://www.nla.gov.au/services/ldeposit.html
Legal Deposit's Role in the Public Domain
Greenleaf, Graham; Paramaguru, Abi; Bond, Catherine; Christou, Sophie (Date Created: May 2008) (Australia)
This paper responds to the '2007 Discussion Paper on the Extension of Legal Deposit' published by the Australian Attorney-Generals Department exploring the extension of the legal deposit scheme to include audio-visual and electronic material. The paper suggests ways that the potential expansion of the scheme could be drafted and implemented to ensure public rights in audio-visual and digital materials are protected. Recommendations are made in relation to Web publications and the rights of depository institutions.
http://law.bepress.com/unswwps/flrps08/art38/
University of New South Wales Faculty of Law Research Series. University of New South Wales Faculty of Law Research Series 2008. Working Paper 38
Safekept
Historical Legal Deposit, Electronic Publications and Digital Archiving - the National Library of Australia’s Experience
Gatenby, Pam In: 68th IFLA General Conference and Council - Libraries for Life: Democracy, Diversity, Delivery (Date Created: 19 Aug 2002) (Australia)
In this paper, presented at the 68th IFLA General Conference and Council held in Glasgow, 18-24th August, 2002, Pam Gatenby of the National Library of Australia discusses "how the experience gained from the Library’s digital archiving activity is shaping proposed changes to legal deposit legislation and also explains the constraints imposed by copyright law. Issues of concern to the National Library, publishers and government bureaucrats are highlighted and ways in which these are being addressed are outlined."
http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla68/papers/071-124e.pdf
Historical Legislating the Rainbow: Legal Deposit, Access and Distribution in a Digital Environment
Whitehead, Derek (Date Created: Nov 1995) (Australia)
This paper examines the relevance of legal deposit to new media, focussing on the practicality of legal deposit as a means of obtaining and preserving documentary material.
http://www.nla.gov.au/niac/meetings/npo95dw.html
Safekept
Historical Management and Preservation of Physical-Format Digital Publications: A National Library Position Paper on the Role of Australian Legal Deposit Libraries DRAFT, February 1998
National Library of Australia (Last Updated: 18 Feb 1998) (Australia)
This is a National Library of Australia position paper on the role of Australian legal deposit libraries in the management and preservation of physical format digital materials. The paper suggests ways the National Library of Australia can work with other stakeholders to find practical, cost effective ways of ensuring preservation for this category of publication. Emphasising the need for coordination and cooperation, this paper contains nineteen recommendations for preserving access to physical format digital publications.
http://www.nla.gov.au/policy/physform.html
Safekept
Historical National strategy for provision of access to Australian electronic publications : a National Library of Australia position paper
National Library of Australia (Last Updated: 21 Dec 1998) (Australia)
This paper proposes a national strategy to provide access to Australian electronic publications. Its purpose is to invite comment which may lead to collaborative approaches to resolving the many challenges associated with providing current and longer-term access to electronic material.
http://www.nla.gov.au/policy/paep.html
Our Digital Island
State Library of Tasmania (Regularly Updated) (Australia)
Our Digital Island provides access to Tasmanian Web sites that have been preserved for posterity by the State Library of Tasmania, as required by the legal deposit provisions of the Libraries Act 1984. It includes sections on: Selection policy, Metadata development, and a description of the project.
http://odi.statelibrary.tas.gov.au/
Policy on Networked Australian Electronic Publications
National Library of Australia (Last Updated: 21 Dec 1998) (Australia)
The document expresses the National Library of Australia's policy at the broadest level. It is anticipated that it will be developed in more detail as a result of work currently being undertaken at the Library.
http://www.nla.gov.au/policy/elecpol.html
Historical Simplification of the Copyright Act 1968 : Part 2 Categorisation of Subject Matter and Exclusive Rights and Other Issues
Copyright Law Review Committee (Last Updated: 12 Feb 1999) (Australia)
This report proposes to simplify the categories of protected subject matter and the exclusive rights of copyright owners. It also considers the implementation of a distribution right and addresses issues identified by the Copyright Convergence Group for further consideration by the Committee. Among the matters proposed in those reforms is the new broadly based, technology-neutral right of communication to the public.
http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/rwpattach.nsf/VAP/(756EDFD270AD704EF00C15
CF396D6111)~CLRC+Simplification+of+the+Copyright+Act+1968+-+Part+2.doc
/$file/CLRC+Simplification+of+the+Copyright+Act+1968+-+Part+2.doc
Available as PDF and Word from http://www.ag.gov.au/www/agd/agd.nsf/Page/Copyright_CopyrightLawReviewCommittee_CLRCReports_SimplificationoftheCopyrightAct1968
STORS : Long Term Storage of Tasmanian Electronic Documents : Stable Tasmanian Open Repository Service
State Library of Tasmania (Australia)
STORS – the Stable Tasmanian Open Repository Service is an open jurisdictional repository for published electronic material (individual documents not websites) which operates within the legal deposit provisions of Tasmania (Australia) which was developed by the State Library of Tasmania. Further information on its development is available in D-Lib article (Sokvitne & Lavelle, June 2004).
http://www.stors.tas.gov.au/logon.do
Submissions to the 2007 Discussion Paper on the Extension of Legal Deposit
Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (Date Created: 02 May 2008) (Australia)
This Web page has links to the submissions received in response to the ‘2007 Discussion Paper on the Extension of Legal Deposit’ published by the Australian Attorney-General's Department and Dept. of Broadband, Communication and the Digital Economy, which closed on Friday 2 May 2008.
http://www.arts.gov.au/public_consultation/discussion_paper_on_the_ext
ension_of_legal_deposit_of_library_material/submissions

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Austria

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Archivierung Digitaler Medien
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Regularly Updated) (Austria)
The Austrian National Library's electronic archiving web page. The text emphasises that permanent archiving of electronic publications is dependent on the enactment of effective legal deposit legislation. Links are made to the 2000 amendment to legal deposit law (the Novelle zum Mediengesetz), which extended the scope of the legislation to include offline media such as CD-ROMs and DVDs. The complications associated with the deposit and control of online publications are also addressed.
http://www.onb.ac.at/about/lza/
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Historical Webarchivierung : Eine Aufgabe für Nationalbibliotheken ?!
Rauber, Andreas ; Schmidt, Alfred (Date Created: 14 May 2001) (Austria)
This report, which was presented to the May 2001 meeting of the Federal Internet Advisory Board, discusses the challenges of archiving the Internet for the Austrian National Library. The legal deposit implications for the collection and control of online materials are also examined in the paper.
http://www.ifs.tuwien.ac.at/~aola/publications/InternetBeirat_14-5-01_
1.doc

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Canada

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Historical Consultation on Online Publications
National Library of Canada (Last Updated: 2004) (Canada)
Consultation on Online Publications is an initiative of the National Library of Canada to bring together experts from various sectors of the Canadian publishing community with National Library staff, to discuss key issues that the National Library must address when collecting and providing access to online publications. This is a new website that will be updated as more information is available.
http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/206/301/lac-bac/consultation_online_publi
cations-ef/8/7/index-e.html
Historical Electronic Publications Pilot 1996/97 : Final Report
Hjartarson, Fay; Mowat, Kathryn; Ramage, Pamela (Date Created: May 1999) (Canada)
Conducted as a joint initiative between Statistics Canada and the Depository Services Program (DSP) between 1996-1997, the Electronic Publications Pilot's (EPP) main aim was to gather information on how DSP libraries and their users were embracing the electronic environment, and to assess the impact electronic publications would have on print publications. This article provides an overview of the pilot, including an explanation of the methodology undertaken, limitations of the study, research findings including technical and resource problems and archiving issues.
ISBN: 0662278607
http://www.statcan.ca/bsolc/english/bsolc?catno=11-534-R&CHROPG=1
Catalogue no. 11-534-RIE
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Historical Electronic Publications Pilot Project (EPPP): summary of the final report
The National Library of Canada (Last Updated: 23 May 1996) (Canada)
This summary of the final report describes a pilot project that aimed to identify and understand the challenges associated with acquiring, cataloguing, preserving and providing access to Canadian electronic publications. The discussion focusses on two issues: firstly, the NLC's responsibility for storing and managing electronic publications that Canadian authors and publishers create; and secondly, the Library's role as creator and distributor of computerised documents.
ISBN: 0-662-24672-1
http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/nlc-bnc/eppp_summary-e/ereport.ht
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New Government Web Content in Canada a National Library Web Archive Perspective
Cantello, Gillian; Stegenga, John (Date Created: 27 May 2008) (Canada)
This paper delivered at the World Library and Information Congress: 74th IFLA Gener