The Legal Deposit Libraries Act: acquired in 2003
Of vital importance to the National Library of Scotland in 2003 was the passing into law of the Legal Deposit Libraries Act.
The Act continues the Library's right to request a copy of every printed item published in the UK to add to the national collection. This legal deposit privilege has existed under various laws since 1710. It has been largely responsible for creating the significant collections that we have at NLS today.
However, earlier legislation did not include the increasing numbers of non-print publications – for instance, websites, online journals and CD-ROMS. We have acquired some of this material – especially if it is of Scottish interest – through purchase, donation and voluntary deposit. The new legislation provides for supplementary regulations to be introduced to extend legal deposit to include non-print publications. An advisory panel has now been set up to draft these regulations.
We acquired a legal deposit copy of the new Act in 2003. For more information on the Act, see our pages on legal deposit non-print publications.
The Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 image is reproduced here under the terms of Crown Copyright Policy Guidance issued by HMSO.