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Legal deposit is a statutory provision which obliges publishers to
deposit copies of their publications in libraries in the country in which they
are published. Under the
Copyright
Act 1968 and various state Acts, a copy of any work published in
Australia must be deposited with the National Library of Australia and the
appropriate State library. In New South Wales, Queensland and South
Australia, legislation also applies to other libraries and a copy must also be
deposited with these libraries. Legal deposit extends not only to commercial
publishers but also to private individuals, clubs, churches, societies and
organisations. Legal deposit of the material is the sole responsibility of the
publisher or author.
The Acts requiring deposit have a number of common features.
- Definition of a work
- A work can be a book, a periodical such as a newsletter or annual
report, a newspaper, a piece of sheet music, map, plan, chart, table, program,
catalogue, brochure or pamphlet.
In some states it also includes
material published in electronic format such as CD’s and computer disks.
- Definition of publication
- A work is deemed to have been published if reproductions of the
work or edition have been made available (whether by sale or otherwise) to the
public.
- Best copy
- The copy of the material must be a copy of the whole material and
must be the best copy of that material as published. For example, if both a
hard cover bound edition and a paperback edition are published, one copy of the
hard cover edition must be deposited.
- Second and subsequent editions
- A copy of a second or later edition in which copyright subsists
does not have to be deposited unless it contains additions or alterations to
the text or the illustrations. If a second or later edition does contain such
additions or alterations then the best copy of that edition must also be
deposited. If a book is reprinted with a change to the title, or any part of
the content, or by a different publisher, it is considered a new edition.
- Claiming
- When a legal deposit library finds that it has not received a
published item on legal deposit it claims the publication from the publisher.
This ensures that the collecting of currently published Australiana is as
complete as possible, and at the same time, reminds publishers of the
requirements of legal deposit.
The National Library and other deposit libraries assume an
obligation to preserve all material lodged with them. Legal deposit ensures
that the works of authors and publishers will survive for the use of future
generations. The comprehensive collections of Australian publications
formed in this way provide the means for research into all aspects of
Australian life, history, culture, artistic, commercial, technical and
scientific endeavour.
Records for legal deposit publications are available through Libraries Australia,
an online shared cataloguing system, forming the basis of the Australian National
Bibliographic Database. This means that all publications are brought to the
attention of potential users through author, title, subject and many
sophisticated electronic search strategies. Libraries Australia is accessed in over 1300
libraries throughout Australia.
The National Library's catalogue is available on the Internet at:
http://www.nla.gov.au and search under
Our catalogue.
In addition selected records are included on databases available
online. Social sciences and humanities literature published through scholarly
periodicals and conferences are indexed in the Australian Public Affairs
Information Service (APAIS). Health and medical literature published in
periodicals and conferences are indexed in the Australian Medical Index
(AMI)
Further help is given to publishers by the National Library’s
Cataloguing-in-Publication program (commonly known as CIP). The address to
contact is :
- Cataloguing-in-Publication
National Library of Australia
Canberra ACT 2600.
Tel: 02 6262 1458
Fax: 02 6273 4492
Internet:
http://www.nla.gov.au/services/CIP.html
- Legal Deposit Unit
National Library of Australia
Canberra ACT 2600
Telephone: 02 6262 1312
Facsimile : 02 6273 4492
E-mail: legaldep@nla.gov.au
Internet:
http://www.nla.gov.au/services/ldeposit.html
Legal deposit with the
National Library is required under the
Copyright
Act 1968 s201. The Act requires all Australian publishers to deliver a
copy of library material to the National Library within one month of
publication. Library material means a book, periodical (eg newsletter, annual
report), newspaper, pamphlet, sheet of letterpress, sheet music, map, plan,
chart or table.
When sending legal deposit material to the National
Library please ensure that there is a name and address attached so that the
legal deposit receipt can be sent. No other forms are required.
- Legal Deposit
Collection Services
State Library of New
South Wales
Macquarie Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: 02 9273 1489 Fax:
02 9273 1246
Email: orders@sl.nsw.gov.au
Legal
Deposit Officer
NSW Parliamentary Library
Parliament House
Macquarie
Street
Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: 02 9230 2384
Fax: 02 9230 2640
Email:
libreq@parliament.nsw.gov.au
Legal Deposit Officer
University of Sydney Library
University of
Sydney NSW 2006
Tel: 02 9351 7268
Fax: 02 9351 7305
Email: legaldeposit@library.usyd.edu.au
Legal deposit is required under the
New
South Wales Copyright Act 1879-1952, ss 5-7.
The Act requires that
a copy of every 'book' first published in New South Wales be lodged within two
months of publication. 'Book' is defined in the Act as any book, newspaper,
pamphlet, leaflet, music, map, chart or plan separately published and 'bound',
sewed or stitched together'.
Legal deposit is also required with the
National Library.
- Legal Deposit Officer
Northern Territory Library
GPO
Box 42
Darwin NT 0801
Tel: 08 8999 3929
Fax: 08 8999 6920
Email: ntlinfo.dcdsca@nt.gov.au
Legal deposit is required under the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004.
This Act requires documents published in the Northern Territory be
deposited within two months of publication. 'Document' means any document
available to the public including books, newspapers, magazines,
periodicals, reports, newsletters, calendars, directories, handbooks,
guides, sheet music, maps, pamphlets, audio cassettes, video cassettes,
films, multimedia kits, computer magnetic tape, computer optical discs,
floppy discs, compact discs, CDROMs, DVDs. The Act also includes Internet
Publications including websites and PDF files.
Legal deposit is also required with the National Library.
- Library Deposits (Queensland)
Acquisitions Branch
State
Library of Queensland
P O Box 3488
South Brisbane QLD 4101
Tel: 07
3840 7893 Fax: 07 3846 2421
Email: jol@slq.qld.gov.au
Parliamentary Librarian
Parliamentary Library
Parliament House
George
Street
Brisbane QLD 4001
Tel: 07 3406 7199
Fax: 07 3210
0172
Email: Library.inquiries@parliament.qld.gov.au
Legal deposit is required under the Queensland Libraries
Act 1988 which replaces Part VIII of the Libraries and Archives Act
1988 . The Act requires that material published in Queensland is deposited
within one month of publication with the State Librarian and the Librarian of
the Parliamentary Library.
Material is defined as every part or
division of a book, periodical, piece of sheet music, map or chart, also
non-print: an audio tape, film, video recording, disk, microfilm or microfiche.
Material is considered to have been published if reproductions of the material
or edition have been supplied (whether by sale or otherwise) to the general
public.
Legal deposit is also required with the National
Library.
- Legal Deposit
State Library of South Australia
GPO Box
419
ADELAIDE SA 5001
telephone: +61 (0)8 8207 7261
telephone: +61
(0)8 8207 7281
facsimile: +61 (0)8 8207 7307
Parliamentary
Librarian
Parliamentary Library of S.A.
GPO Box 572
Adelaide SA 5001
Tel: 08 8237 9398
Fax: 08 8212 1797
Legal deposit is required
under the
South
Australian Libraries Act 1982, s35 and Libraries Act Amendment Act,
1989. The Acts require that material published in South Australia be
deposited within one month after publicationn. Material includes a book, or a
part or division of a book: a newspaper, magazine, journal or pamphlet: a map,
plan, chart or table: printed music: a record, cassette, film, video or audio
tape, disk or other item made available to the public, designed to store and
facilitate the reproduction of visual images, sound or information.
All
items received by the State Library of South Australia under legal deposit are
listed in Mortlock miscellany, acquisitions received by The Mortlock
Library of South Australiana.
Legal deposit is also required with
the National Library.
- Legal Deposit Officer
State Library of Tasmania
91 Murray
Street
Hobart TAS 7000
Tel: 03 6233 7502
Fax: 03 6233 7506
Email: Heritage.Collections@education.tas.gov.au
Legal deposit is required under the Tasmanian Libraries Act 1984, s 22. The Act requires that a book published in Tasmania be deposited within one month of publication. “ 'Book' means any book, periodical, newspaper, printed matter, map, plan, music, manuscipt, picture, print, motion picture, sound recording, photographic negative or print, microphotography, videorecording and any other matter or thing whereby words, sounds or images are recorded or reproduced”.
Legal deposit is also required with the National
Library.
- Legal Deposit Officer
State Library of Victoria
328 Swanston
Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: 03 8664 7141
Fax: 03 9663 1480
email: MonoAcq@slv.vic.gov.au
Legal
deposit is required under the
Victorian
Libraries Act 1988, s49. The Act requires the deposit within two months
of every new publication published in Victoria. Publication includes every
book, periodical, newspaper, musical score, map, chart, plan, picture,
photograph, print and any other printed matter, any microfiche or microfilm and
a range of other types of publication.
Legal deposit is also required
with the National Library.
- Legal Deposit
Battye Library
State Library of Western
Australia
Alexander Library Building
Perth Cultural Centre
Perth WA
6000
Tel: 08 9427 3107 Fax: 08 9427 3276
Email: battref@mail.liswa.wa.gov.au
Legal deposit was required under the Western Australian Copyright Act 1895,
ss 4, 7-9. The Act required that a book published in Western Australia be
deposited within two months of publication.
This Act was
repealed in 1994. In this Act “publication”meant a 'book, newspaper, magazine, journal,
pamphlet, map, plan, chart or table, printed music, a film, tape, disc or other
device…, and anything prescribed to be a publication for the purposes of
this definition'.
Until legal deposit legislation is reinstated the State Library of Western
Australia hopes that publishers will abide by the spirit of legal deposit. Deposit material is housed in the
JS Battye Library of Western
Australian History.
Legal deposit is also required with the
National Library.
Legal deposit should not be confused with copyright. Under the
Copyright
Act 1968 copyright protection is granted automatically in Australia
from the moment of creating a work. There are no formalities to be completed,
such as registration or payment of fees. Publication is not necessary for
copyright to subsist in the work except in the case of sound and television
broadcasts and publishers' copyright in editions of works. However, library
records and the legal deposit receipt issued to the publisher by some legal
deposit libraries may be used as evidence of date of issue.
The Australian Copyright
Council can provide advice to authors and publishers on copyright. The
address of the Australian Copyright Council is:
- 245 Chalmers Street
Redfern NSW 2016.
Tel: 02 9318 1788
Fax: 02 9698 3536
Email: info@copyright.org.au
Internet:
http://www.copyright.org.au
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