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Legal Deposit (Copyright Libraries)

What is Legal Deposit?

Legal Deposit is the statutory obligation on publishers and distributors to deposit at least one copy of every publication, free of charge, in designated legal deposit libraries. Legal Deposit benefits authors, publishers, researchers and the general public because it helps to ensure that:

  • The nation’s published output is collected systematically and becomes part of the national heritage
  • Publications are recorded in the online catalogues of legal deposit libraries and become an essential research resource
  • Deposited publications are made available to users of the deposit libraries on their premises
  • Published material is preserved for the use of future generations

Legal Deposit and the Library of Trinity College Dublin

Legal deposit has been established in Trinity College Dublin since 1801, accounting for much of the Library's collection of five million volumes.

The Library of Trinity College Dublin benefits from legal deposit legislation of both Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Irish publishers and distributors are required to deliver a print copy of each of their works to the Library of Trinity College Dublin under the terms of the Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000.

UK publishers and distributors are obliged to deposit a copy of each of their works in the British Library, and on request in the five other specified libraries including the Library of Trinity College Dublin, under the terms of the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 (UK).

UK electronic Legal Deposit (UK eLD)

From 6 April 2013, under the Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations 2013 (UK), the British Library and the other five specified legal deposit libraries are entitled to harvest content from UK-published material on UK websites, and to collect UK-published e-journals, e-books and other types of non-print publications, both on-line and off-line (e.g., CD-ROMs). Please note: these regulations only apply to UK publishers and distributors. More information is available from the British Library.

The six Legal Deposit Libraries are collaborating to archive and provide seamless access to electronic Legal Deposit material (eLD), with a growing collection of more than 5 million e-books and e-journal articles. This is the first time that a collaborative effort on this scale has been achieved in the UK, Ireland and internationally between major library institutions. More and more publishers are depositing electronic material, which can be accessed in each library in the same way. Electronic formats facilitate improved search capabilities within a document, which is not possible in printed publications. Material received electronically from publishers is saved in perpetuity by the Legal Deposit Libraries and can be accessed on library premises only.

Electronic Legal Deposit is also referred to as Non-Print Legal Deposit (NPLD).

In the Library of Trinity College Dublin, we are using the terminology "UK eLD" to specifically refer to electronic Legal Deposit of UK material, received under the UK legislation. At the moment, eLD does not cover Irish material under the Irish regulations.

More information on electronic Legal Deposit at the Library of Trinity College Dublin

Legal Deposit and Irish Publishers

Irish publishers and distributors are obliged by law to deposit one copy of a book or journal in each of 13 specified legal deposit libraries in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

For the purposes of the Act:

  • A publisher is anyone who issues or distributes publications to the public, irrespective of:
    • Size of the publishing operation
    • Number of copies of a published edition
    • Price of individual copies
  • Items originally published elsewhere but distributed in the Republic of Ireland are also included
  • A "book" includes all printed publications such as:
    • newspapers
    • journals
    • magazines
    • pamphlets
    • sheet music
    • maps

These requirements are covered in Section 198 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000.

Section 198(1) states “the publisher of any book published in the state, shall, within one month after publication, deliver, at his or her own expense, a copy of the book to each of the following…”

In addition, Irish publishers and distributors are required, on request, to deposit publications with:

The Irish Copyright Agency (c/o the Library of Trinity College Dublin) provides a local address for Irish publishers and distributors to send works intended for onward despatch to the legal deposit libraries in the United Kingdom (other than the British Library).

Voluntary Deposit of Irish Electronic Publications

The Library of Trinity College Dublin now offers the service edepositIreland; the current focus is the voluntary deposit of open access electronic publications.

edepositIreland is a free-of-charge, easy-to-use online repository. Irish publishers can login and deposit their publications directly into their own branded collection. They can use this collection to be the home for their publications: it will have its own collection search facility; usage statistics will be available; and each document will have a permanent URL.

For further information about edepositIreland, please e-mail the Accessions Librarian.

Legal Deposit Contact Details

Irish publishers and distributors should send copies of their publications to:

The Library of Trinity College Dublin

Accessions Department
The Library of Trinity College Dublin
College Street
Dublin 2
Tel: +353 1 8961021
Fax: +353 1 8963774
E-mail: libraryaccessions@tcd.ie

National Library of Ireland

Legal Deposit Section
National Library of Ireland
Kildare Street
Dublin 2
Ireland

Other Irish Legal Deposit Libraries

Copies for the other six Irish libraries should be sent to the Acquisitions Department of the libraries of the individual universities:

UK Legal Deposit Libraries

Deposit Guidelines

Irish publishers and distributors should deliver the four copies of print publications (only) intended for the Bodleian Library, Oxford; Cambridge University Library; the National Library of Scotland, and the National Library of Wales, to:

Irish Copyright Agency
c/o the Library of Trinity College Dublin
College Street
Dublin 2
Tel: +353 1 8961021
Fax: +353 1 8963774
E-mail: irlegdep@tcd.ie

The copy intended for the Library of Trinity College Dublin may be included in the same parcel.

Alternatively send four copies directly to the Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries in the United Kingdom at:

Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries
Agency for the Legal Deposit Libraries
21 Marnin Way
Edinburgh
EH12 9GD
Tel: +44 131 6234680
Fax: +44 845 6234681
E-mail: publisher.enquiries@legaldeposit.org.uk

The British Library

Publications destined for the British Library should be sent directly to:

The Legal Deposit Office
The British Library
Boston Spa
Wetherby
West Yorkshire
LS23 7BY
United Kingdom
Books - Tel: +44 1937 546268
E-mail: legal-deposit-books@bl.uk
Serials - Tel: +44 1937 546267
E-mail: legal-deposit-serials@bl.uk
Newspapers - Tel: +44 1937 546409
E-mail: LDO.newspapers@bl.uk
General Fax: +44 1937 546273