Library and Archives Canada
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Legal Deposit
Additional Information
Legal Deposit: Preserving and Providing Access to Canada's Published Heritage
- History of Legal Deposit
- Authority for Legal Deposit
- Publications Affected by Legal Deposit
- Publishers Affected by Legal Deposit
- Key Features of Legal Deposit
- Legal Deposit and LAC Services for Canadian publishers
- Compliance with the Legal Deposit Regulations
- After Deposit for Physical Publications
- After Deposit for Internet Publications
- For Further Information
- Tax Deduction for Physical Publications
- Copyright
Library and Archives Canada (LAC) collects and preserves Canada's documentary heritage, and makes it accessible to all Canadians. LAC combines the collections, services and staff of the former National Library of Canada and the former National Archives of Canada.
Legal deposit is the means by which a comprehensive library collection is gathered together as a record of the nation's published heritage and development. Providing a publication to Legal Deposit at LAC ensures its permanent preservation for present and future generations.
Legal deposit applies to all publishers in Canada and to all publications in all formats.
Once the publication is received, a description of it is entered into LAC's online catalogue can be accessed throughout Canada and the world and acknowledges your contribution as a Canadian publisher.
History of Legal Deposit
Legal deposit has been an effective means of collecting and preserving a country's published heritage for over 450 years. The concept was established in 1537 with the Ordonnance de Montpellier enacted by King Francis I to ensure the collection and preservation of documents published in France. Since that time, legal deposit has been practiced internationally as a vital part of building a comprehensive collection of a nation's published works.
Legal deposit in Canada has been in effect since the National Library of Canada was created in 1953. After the merging of the National Library and the National Archives into one organization, legal deposit was reconfirmed in the Library and Archives of Canada Act (2004) (http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-7.7/index.html).
Initially, legal deposit applied primarily to books, but was extended to include serial publications in 1965, sound recordings in 1969, multimedia kits in 1978, microforms in 1988, video recordings in 1993, electronic publications in physical media such as CD-ROMs in 1995, and cartographic materials and online or Internet publications in 2007.
Authority for Legal Deposit
The Library and Archives of Canada Act (2004) (http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-7.7/index.html) is a federal statute of Canada that mandates and legally empowers Library and Archives Canada (LAC) to collect and preserve the nation's published heritage. LAC is also responsible for making Canada's publications available to present and future generations.
According to the Library and Archives of Canada Act (http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-7.7/index.html) and the Legal Deposit of Publications Regulations, (http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/
SOR-2006-337/index.html) Canadian publishers are required to send, usually two, copies of their publications to LAC, at their expense, within a week of their public release date.
Publications Affected by Legal Deposit
Legal deposit applies to all publications produced in Canada in all formats, including books (monographs), serials (journals, periodicals, newsletters), microforms, multimedia or instructional kits, sound recordings, video recordings, electronic publications issued in physical media such as CD-ROMs, and since January 2007, cartographic materials and online or Internet publications (materials published in electronic format).
Publishers Affected by Legal Deposit
Legal deposit applies to all publishers in Canada.
This includes individuals, self-publishers, associations, publishers of audio, video, and multimedia materials, electronic publications issued in physical formats, cartographic materials, federal government departments and agencies, trade and periodical publishers, microforms, and online or Internet materials.
Note: Titles by Canadian authors published outside of Canada are not subject to legal deposit. If authors or publishers wish to donate copies of these publications to the Library and Archives Canada's collection, they are welcome to send them to the following address:
Gifts Program
Library and Archives Canada
395 Wellington St.
Ottawa ON K1A 0N4
Canada
gifts@bac-lac.gc.ca
Key Features of Legal Deposit
Effective January 1, 2007, the Legal Deposit Regulations were extended to online or Internet publications as well as cartographic materials, in addition to all the formats previously subject to deposit.
The following key features apply:
- Two copies of all publications must be deposited when 100 or more copies are produced. This includes all formats of each item published (paperback, hardcover, etc.)
- One copy of each format of all publications must be deposited when between 4 and 99 copies are produced.
- One copy of each format published of musical sound recordings and multimedia kits must be deposited.
- One copy of each format of online or Internet publications must be deposited.
For other details, the reader is advised to consult the Legal Deposit of Publications Regulations (http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/
SOR-2006-337/index.html)
Exclusions:
The following are either not subject to, or are specifically exempted from, legal deposit:
- Official publications of Canadian provincial and territorial governments
- Loose-leaf publications including updates (in print format)
- Unpublished manuscripts
- Materials not formally published
- Materials in poor physical condition
- Blank materials (stationery, agendas, notebooks, forms, calendars, postcards, etc.)
Legal Deposit and LAC Services for Canadian Publishers
Legal deposit ensures accessibility. Through legal deposit, all materials produced by Canadian publishers become part of the collections at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and are available for public consultation and use.
Publications received through legal deposit gain significant publicity through a number of associated LAC programs:
Prior to publication, publishers can apply to the Canadian ISBN Agency for International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN), and International Standard Music Numbers (ISMN, exclusively for printed music) to place on their materials. Similarly, publishers of periodicals may apply with ISSN Canada for International Standard Serial Number (ISSN). These numbering systems ensure unique identification of materials and facilitate inventory control, ordering of copies at point-of-retail, and quick retrieval of publication information from databases.
Certain types of materials produced in physical format can receive Canadian Cataloguing in Publication (CIP). This program enables the cataloguing of books before they are published, and ensures the prompt distribution of this cataloguing information to booksellers and libraries. CIP records are available via LAC's catalogue.
The New Books Service (NBS) provides the latest information on current and forthcoming Canadian books. The NBS database contains thousands of English- and French language books announced by Canadian publishers over the past six months, and is derived from data collected through LAC's CIP program. Entries in NBS can be supplemented with images (e.g. book covers, table of contents) and text (e.g. author biographies, first chapters).
Select materials are listed in Canadiana, the national bibliography, which is widely circulated in Canada and abroad, and appears in LAC's catalogue.
For more information, please consult the Publishers page.
Compliance with the Legal Deposit Regulations
Legal Deposit was established by the Library and Archives of Canada Act (2004), (http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-7.7/index.html) and is further detailed in the Legal Deposit Regulations (SOR/2006-337) (http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/
SOR-2006-337/index.html)
Federal law requires all Canadian publishers to deposit copies of all their published materials (in all formats as described in the Legal Deposit Regulations), at their own expense, with the Library and Archives Canada (LAC).
Publishers of physical publications are asked to:
- Determine the number of copies to be deposited.
- Complete a legal deposit form to accompany all materials sent. While the full completion of this form is not obligatory, valuable information (such as the size of the print run and background data on the authors) is added to LAC's records.
- Send the copies to LAC within one week of release
- Include LAC on their mailing list for the distribution of all future publications.
Materials submitted to Legal Deposit should be accompanied by the appropriate form; specific forms are available for books (monographs), serials, sound recordings, and cartographic materials. These are available in from the legal deposit forms area of our website, which can be printed and edited.
Mailing labels (which provide shipping information) and forms are available upon request. Postage is the responsibility of the publisher.
Publishers of Internet publications are asked to:
Consult LAC's Guidelines for Legal Deposit of Online Publications for instructions on depositing online or Internet publications.
Online or Internet publications should not be printed and sent. Instead, the electronic format in which the publication was published should be deposited.
LAC offers the following options for deposit of electronic or Internet publications:
- Email (mostly for subscriptions);
- FTP (for large quantities of files);
- CD-ROM or other storage devices, via regular mail (these are not returned to the publisher);
- Online via the Electronic Collection's Upload platform (files 10 MB or less at a time).
After Deposit for Physical Publications:
Library and Archives Canada (LAC):
- Acknowledges receipt of the publication by issuing a "Receipt for Legal Deposit" to the publisher. (In the case of a serial publication, an acknowledgement is sent only once to the publisher, after receipt of the first issue and also after receipt of the first issue of a title change).
- Creates a catalogue record describing the publication and makes this description available through the national bibliography and LAC's catalogue
- Stores one copy of every publication, in any format, in the LAC preservation collection, where it is kept in a carefully controlled environment. Since the objective of this process is to ensure its availability for future generations, only limited use of this copy is permitted. The second copy is placed in the LAC service collection for public consultation and use.
Note that use of all materials is subject to copyright laws.
After Deposit for Internet Publications:
Online or Internet publications that have been deposited at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) are archived on a LAC server, and added to the LAC Electronic Collection
Currently LAC offers publishers a choice of two types of public access levels for their online or Internet publications in the LAC Electronic Collection: open access and restricted access. Publishers need to select one of these access options. More information is available from the Guidelines for Legal Deposit of Online Publications
For Further Information
Library and Archives Canada staff would be pleased to provide more detailed information or answer any further questions you may have. Please contact:
Legal Deposit
Library and Archives Canada
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0N4
Canada
Telephone: 819-997-9565
Toll free (Canada): 1-866-578-7777 (Select 1+7+1)
Toll free (TTY): 1-866-299-1699
Fax: 819-997-7019
E-mail: legal.deposit@bac-lac.gc.ca
Internet Unit
Library and Archives Canada
395 Wellington Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0N4
Canada
Telephone: 819-997-9565
Toll free (Canada): 1-866-578-7777 (Select 1+7+1)
Toll free (TTY): 1-866-299-1699
Fax: 819-997-7019
Email: epe@bac-lac.gc.ca
Archives:
Please note that the archival collections are developed and managed under the Acquisition of Private Sector Records area of our website.
Tax Deduction for Physical Publications
Although the market value of print publications sent to Library and Archives Canada for legal deposit is not deductible for income tax purposes, a publisher can deduct, as a business expense, the cost of labour and material required for producing the copies deposited, when such expenses occur in the course of earning income from the business of publishing.
For more information on the maximum amount of the deduction and for any exemptions, please contact the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency. (www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-e.html)
Copyright
Depositing published materials with Library and Archives Canada (LAC) does not constitute or convey formal copyright registration or protection.
In Canada, copyright is covered under its own federal statute, and is administrated by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) at Industry Canada. (www.cipo.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/cipointernet-
internetopic.nsf/en/Home) For information on copyright in Canada, please contact CIPO:
Canadian Intellectual Property Office
(www.cipo.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/cipointernet-
internetopic.nsf/en/Home)
Industry Canada
Telephone: 1-866-997-1936
Fax: 819-953-CIPO (2476)
Email: cipo.contact@ic.gc.ca
