Legal Deposit

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 (Commonwealth) and various state acts, a copy of any work published in Australia must be deposited with the appropriate state library as well as the National Library of Australia. In Victoria, legal deposit is required under the Victorian Libraries Act 1988, s49. Legal deposit is also required with the National Library.

Legal deposit extends not only to commercial publishers but also to private individuals, clubs, churches, societies and organisations. Legal deposit of material is the sole responsibility of the publisher or author.

What are the requirements of legal deposit?

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 publications.

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.

Contact

Legal Deposit Librarian
State Library of Victoria
328 Swanston Street
Melbourne Vic 3000 
Telephone: 03 8664 7141 (books, CDs, videos etc); 03 8664 7139 (periodicals and journals)
Email: legaldeposit@slv.vic.gov.au