Legal deposit of a pubication with the National Library of Luxembourg (BnL)

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Déclaration de dépôt légal auprès de la BnL

The National Library of Luxembourg (Bibliothèque nationale du Luxembourg - BnL) archives all material published within the territory of Luxembourg—as well as material published abroad concerning Luxembourg—that is submitted to it for legal deposit.

A pubication is defined as any document, be it paper or digital, that is generally produced in multiple copies for the purpose of being made pubic, even if the target audience is restricted.

The legal deposit is compulsory and must be made before a claim is made by the BnL.

Each year, the BnL compiles the national bibliography of the pubications deposited with it.

Who is concerned

The natural or legal person who is required to submit the legal deposit is:

  • the editor or their representative; or
  • the printer, producer or author of the pubication.

In the case of doctoral dissertations, application papers and research papers, legal deposit copies are submitted by the pubic or private institution that is the recipient of the documents.

Prerequisites

To be subject to the legal deposit requirements by the National Library of Luxembourg, a pubication must be edited in Luxembourg, which is to say:

  • any pubication by an editor (natural or legal person), or failing this, a printer, a producer or an author either residing in Luxembourg or having their registered office in Luxembourg;
  • any pubication created in Luxembourg by an editor (natural or legal person), or failing this, a printer, a producer or an author either residing abroad or having their registered office abroad;
  • any pubication, thesis or research paper whose creation was supported by a pubic sector body in Luxembourg.

The pubication in question may be:

  • printed and graphic: books, brochures, newspapers, periodicals, posters, calendars, musical scores, choreographic works, plays, braille pubications or any other document concerning the political, economic, social, cultural, scientific, religious or tourism life in Luxembourg;
  • digital on a physical medium, regardless of the nature of that medium, and pubications referred to in the previous paragraph produced by a method other than printing (e-books, e-journals, databases, software, etc.);
  • without a physical medium (pubications referred to in the 2 previous paragraphs) and made available to the pubic via an electronic network (websites and online content).

Reissues, adaptations, new versions and different versions, as well as translations of the aforementioned pubications are also subject to legal deposit.

The following pubications are not subject to legal deposit, regardless of their medium:

  • printed personal document: family event announcements, personal and address cards, invitation cards and letters, letterheaded envelopes and letters, etc.;
  • printed commercial documents: letterheads, invoices, business cards, order forms, labels, instructions and user guides;
  • printed administrative documents: templates, registers, internal circulars, control sheets, forms, etc.;
  • financial securities.

Deadlines

Printed and digital pubications must be deposited at the BnL no later than 1 month after being made available to the pubic.

Doctoral theses, application papers and research papers must be deposited no later than 4 months after being sent to the recipient institution.

Costs

There is no charge for legal deposit submissions to the National Library of Luxembourg.

How to proceed

Legal deposit declaration

The legal deposit declaration must be submitted using MyGuichet.lu (see 'Online services and forms').

The declaration form must be submitted with the printed and/or digital legal-deposit copies of the pubications. In return, the BnL issues a legal deposit receipt to the applicant.

For newspapers and periodicals, only the first issue submitted must be accompanied by the legal deposit declaration form.

Submission of documents

Persons who wish to submit printed pubications can send them by post or submit them in person at the BnL reception desk.

Digital pubications on a physical medium may be sent electronically in accordance with the BnL's instructions. If electronic submissions are not possible for justified technical reasons, digital pubications must be submitted on an appropriate physical medium determined by the Library:

  • in person; or
  • by simple mail.

Pubications with no physical medium can be submitted as soon as:

  • the BnL has free and guaranteed access to the pubication and its metadata;
  • the BnL is entitled to make a high-quality copy of the pubication.

In other cases, the producer must submit, at the Library's request, any information or tools required to copy the pubications.

If this type of pubication cannot be submitted online for justified technical reasons, it must be delivered on an appropriate physical medium determined by the Library:

  • in person; or
  • by simple mail.

Once the pubication has been deposited, it becomes the property of the BnL which can make it available to the pubic.

Number of copies

The number of copies to be submitted depends on the type of pubication:

Number of copies to be submitted by type of pubication
QuantityDocument type
4 copies
  • brochures
  • books
3 copies
  • periodicals
2 copies
  • posters
  • calendars
  • postcards
  • maps
  • choreographic works
  • musical scores
  • plans
  • programmes for shows and other events
  • digital pubications on a physical medium
1 copy
  • graphic documents (prints, etchings)
  • braille pubications
  • pubications whose price is over EUR 200
  • pubications for which fewer than 200 copies have been printed

For choreographic works, handwritten musical scores and theatrical works for which fewer than 10 copies have been reproduced or published, as well as identical reissues of such pubications, only 1 copy must be deposited.

For reprints with no changes other than spelling or typographical changes, 2 copies must be deposited.

Doctoral theses, application papers and research papers must be deposited with 1 hardcopy and 1 digital copy.

Please note that the submitted copies must be of perfect quality and identical to the copies intended for the pubic.

One copy of all works (books and pamphlets) concerning the language and literature of Luxembourg is sent by the BnL to the National Centre for Literature (Centre national de littérature).

Online services and forms

Online services

Déclaration de dépôt légal auprès de la BnL

Who to contact

2 of 6 bodies shown

Related procedures and links

Procedures

Joining the National Library of Luxembourg (BnL)

Links

Further information

Legal references

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