No. 117, January 2001

The amended legal deposit system

The legal deposit system requires that copies of all new publications published within Japan be deposited to the National Diet Library (NDL) in accordance with the National Diet Library Law (Law No.5, February 9, 1948). The designation "publications" includes books, pamphlets, serials, music scores, maps, and phonographic records. And, because of the increased production of CD-ROMs and other "packaged electronic publications", the National Diet Library Law and other related regulations were amended in order to start a new legal deposit system which includes the packaged electronic publications. 

In April 7, 2000, responding to the Legal Deposit System Research Council's Report (1999.2.22), the National Diet Library Law was amended. The amendment includes the two following points: (1) Packaged electronic publications should be newly included in publications to be deposited, and (2) The number of copies of publications deposited by the government and local public entities, should be changed. 
The amendment came into effect on October 1, 2000. 

(1) Packaged electronic publications are included in publications to be deposited. 

Packaged electronic publications that have been published since October 1, 2000, the day that this amendment came into effect, are included in publications to be deposited. For this purpose, the NDL has established criteria and methods to select "the best edition", prescribed in Article 25 of National Diet Library Law, of non-governmental packaged electronic publications in terms of preservation and utilization of this publications. If there are different editions of a non-governmental packaged electronic publication with an identical content, from the same publisher around the same time, the best edition will be selected on the following six criteria: 

1. Superior durability. 
2. Is in a container. 
3. No special facilities or equipment are needed. 
4. There is an manual for usage. 
5. Widely used standard of the medium or of the equipment for using it. 
6. Any special function is included. However, special function that is designed for particular purposes is disregarded. 

The"content" in these criteria, refers to the essential content recorded in the publication. Non-essential parts such as advertisements on videotape aren't included. On the other hand, a difference in title or dubbing etc. is regarded as a difference in the "content." A difference in the platform of application software or game software is regarded as a difference in the "content." Each publication with a different "content" is treated as a different publication to be deposited. An upgraded edition is a different publication and has to be deposited. Publications with the same contents but released by different publishers are different publications and have to be deposited. 
In addition, responding to a Legal Deposit System Council's Report (1999.7.19), parts of the regulations regarding compensation have been amended. 

(2) Changes in the number of copies of publications deposited by the government and local public entities. 

In accordance with the actual use, the number of copies of publications deposited by the government and local public entities has been reviewed. Consequently, the regulation regarding the number of copies of publications to be deposited has been amended. According to the amended regulation, the number of copies of publications to be deposited is as follows: 

In accordance with the above-mentioned legal deposit system, packaged electronic publications have actually been deposited from October 1, 2000. Hereafter, for a smooth application of the amended legal deposit system, the NDL will consult with the organizations of publishers and copyright holders, and improve its service facilities for packaged electronic publications.