The Legal Deposit Act - 1999
Legal Deposit
Act:
An Act to Collect, Preserve and Manage
Bhutan’s Documentary Heritage.
• Whereas, it is expedient
for the royal Government to collect and preserve all forms of
documents (print, non-print, electronic, audio visual and electronic
texts) of national interest and importance, emanating from and
relating to Bhutan.
• Whereas, it is necessary
for the Royal Government to facilitate the creation of a comprehensive
bibliographic recording of the documents emanating from and relating
to Bhutan: current and retrospective;
• And whereas, it is desirable
for the Royal Government to make available and promote awareness
of the nation’s documentary heritage.
Therefore, the National Assembly
of Bhutan hereby enacts this Legal Deposit Act: An Act to Collect,
Preserve and Manage Bhutan’s Documentary Heritage (1999)
1. Title, Extent and Commencement
of the Act
1.1 This Act shall
be called the ‘Legal Deposit Act: An Act to Collect,
preserve and Manage Bhutan’s Documentary Heritage.”
1.2 This act shall
extend to the entire kingdom of Bhutan as well as to all Bhutanese
citizens residing outside the country.
1.3 This Act shall
come into force with effect from 20th July 1999 corresponding
to 8th day of the 6th month of the Earth Rabbit Year.
2. Definitions
2.1 “Legal Deposit” means
to legally collect, preserve, and organise the materials Published
in and about Bhutan.
2.2 “Library
Material” include both printed and non-printed materials.
2.3 “Printed
materials” include books, newspaper, magazines, serials,
government publication, maps, charts, tables, drawings, graphic
arts, photographs, catalogue and poster produced by printing,
lithography, photography, xylography, duplication or any other
similar processes.
2.4 “Non-printed
materials” include educational cinema, tele-films, documentaries,
microfilms, audo-visual recordings, electronic media (computer
software, CD-ROM), Braille and any other media containing information.
2.5 “Publisher” refers
to private organizations, companies, government and non-government
organizations, individuals or private sectors who undertake
the production of materials for the purpose of selling or free
distribution.
3. Designation of the National
Library and Archives as the Official Repository.
3.1 The National Library
and Archives shall be designated as the official repository
of all documents to be collected/deposited under this Act and
shall assume the following functions relating to documentary
heritage.
3.1.1 To build
up a complete collection of materials, published or produced
in any language, emanating from or relating to Bhutan;
3.1.2 To analyse,
describe, preserve and make available for use its collection
of the materials referred to in Articles 3.1.1
4. Collection and Preservation
4.1 Within three months
of the publication/production of any material, publishers/producers
are required to deposit at the National Library and Archives,
free of cost, four copies of the material, if printed and two
copies of the materials\, if non-printed
4.1.1 Of the
four copies of printed materials received, the National Library
and Archives shall allocate 1 (one) copy for the purpose of
preservation and record, 1(one) copy for reference and the
remaining 2 (two) copies for inter-Library use. In the case
of non-printed materials, 1 (one) copy shall be allocated for
preservation and record while the other copy shall be kept
for reference.
4.2 The provision for
interlibrary use shall be in accordance with the rules and
regulations of the National Library & Archives.
4.3 Where materials
are published by the government, government-owned or related
sectors or organizations, 10(ten) copies of printed materials
and 5 (five) copies of non-printed materials shall be deposited
at the National Library and Archives.
4.3.1 Of the
ten copies of the materials received, 4 (four) copies shall
be allocated as mentioned in Article 4.2 while the remaining
6 (six) copies shall be allocated for the publication exchange
programmes of the National Library and Archives with national
and international organizations.
4.3.2 Of the
five copies of non-printed material received, 2 (two) copies
shall be allocated for the purpose of preservation and record
while the remaining 3 (three) copies shall be kept for reference.
5. Management of Collected
Materials
5.1 The National Library
and Archives shall manage all such materials and maintain a
record.
5.2 The record shall
provide the following information:
5.2.1 Title/name
of the publication/document/material;
5.2.2 The language
in which the publication/document/material is written;
5.2.3 The name
of the author, translator, or editor of the publication/document/material;
5.2.4 The subject
matter;
5.2.5 The place
of printing and publication/production;
5.2.6 The name
of the printer and the name of the publisher/producer;
5.2.7 The date
of publication/production and the date of issue;
5.2.8 The number
of sheets or pages;
5.2.9 The size
of publication/production;
5.2.10 The
number of the edition;
5.2.11 The
number of copies of each edition;
5.2.12 The
selling price of the publication/production;
5.2.13 The
mailing address of the publisher/producer or the author;
5.3 The National Library
and Archives shall prepare and publish the National Bibliography
of the materials deposited.
6. No right of publication
or sale without permission
6.1 Without the express
permission of the copyright person/organization, the National
Library and Archives shall have no right to duplicate any materials
deposited by any medium, or sell any such materials.
6.2 However, The National
Library and Archives may photocopy such document for research
purpose.
6.3 Any member of the
public may use these materials as reference materials within
the library.
7. Penalty
7.1 Any publisher who
fails to deposit a publication with the National Library and
Archives as required by Article 4 of this Act shall, upon conviction
be liable to a fine of Nu. 3,000.00 (Ngultrum three thousand),
which shall be revised once in every five years.
7.2 Payment of fine
shall not exempt such person(s)/organization(s) from fulfilling
the obligations under this Act.
8. Right to reprint or reproduce
8.1 In case of copyright
publication, where author, publisher, producer or his/her legal
heir dies and the Royal Government is convinced that the copyright
document is of utmost importance to the nation and requires
to be reprinted, the National Library and Archives may reprint
or reproduce such publications. Following such a decision of
the Royal government, the National Library and Archive shall
publish the notice for the claim as legal heir, prior to the
reprinting of the materials.
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