The Investigation Committee on the Legal Deposit System was established as an advisory organ of the National Diet Librarian in order to examine the Japanese legal deposit system in the twenty-first century, especially issues of dealing with digital publications.

The committee is based on the Rules on the Legal Deposit System (settled as of January 22, 1997) approved by the Standing Committees on Rules and Administration of the House of Representatives and of the House of Councillors. The following are the reasons for the Committee's establishment.

1) The legal deposit system, which is the basis of the National Diet Library's acquisition policy of domestic publications, fifty years after its inception should be reviewed because of changes in society and in the circumstances of publication. Especially the recent development of information and communication technologies has been promoting the dissemination of electronic publications such as CD-ROM, DVD and electronic journals. The NDL, as the sole deposit library in the country, has to solve the question of how to deal with such new-media publications as were not conceived when the legal deposit system was originally legislated. This is one of the most important issues urgently needing to be solved in order to lay the foundation of the digital library functions of the NDL's two big projects, Kansai-kan, a new facility of the NDL to be opened in 2002, and the Children's Literature Center.

2) There are problems in operating the existing deposit system. For example, the details of how to treat "works produced by motion picture techniques" (Paragraph 6, Clause 1, Article 24 of the NDL Law) have not been clarified yet. It should be considered how to adjust the laws and rules as a whole when digital publications are included in the objects of legal deposit.

The Committee consists of fifteen learned members commissioned as of March 1, 1997.

The first meeting, held on March 3, was attended by all the members and Mr. Ogata, the Librarian of the National Diet Library, Mr. Imon, the Deputy Librarian, Mr. Miyawaki, the Director of the Administrative Department, and Mr. Ito, the Director of the Acquisitions Department (the posts were as of March 3).

After Mr. Imon introduced the members, Mr. Shinkichi Eto, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo, was elected Chairperson of the Committee, and Mr. Eto appointed Mr. Hiroshi Shiono, Professor of the Faculty of Law, Seikei University, as deputy chairman.

Mr. Ogata then submitted to the Committee the problem about the legal deposit system in view of the coming century, and especially institutions and management of the system concerning publications in electronic forms.

Next, a draft of the rules for administration of the Committee was discussed.

Here a section for digital publications was settled upon and the principle to make the minutes open and other administrative rules were confirmed.

The Digital Publications Section is to investigate and discuss the essential issues of the problem of the Committee. Five of the committee were nominated into the Section by the Chairperson, and Dr. Shunpei Kumon, Director of the Global Communications Center of the International University of Japan, was appointed as the chief. Other experts are to join the Section.

After exchange of opinions, the schedule of the Committee came up for discussion and was settled as follows:

• First meeting of the Digital Publications Section to be held in May 1997;
• Meetings of the Committee to be held twice or three times a year;
• An interim report on digital publications to be submitted by the end of FY1997; and
• Final report to be submitted by the end of FY1998.

The Committee is to provide the first opportunity for survey and discussion of the legal deposit system in Japan since 1949 when the present system was established. It will probably result in modification and reorganization of the system and related laws and regulations. The Committee is expected to conduct research and discuss the issues to a wide extent and from a long perspective considering trends in foreign countries as well.