Publications covered by Legal Deposit
If you have any questions about whether the publication you have produced should be deposited with the National Library, email legaldeposit@dia.govt.nz or phone 04 474 3104.
How do I submit my publication for Legal Deposit?
Physical and digital publications that should be deposited
You should deposit copies of any of the following types of publications you are publishing in New Zealand:
- almanacs, calendars and diaries that have text, not just dates
- annual reports
- books, e-books and audiobooks
- brochures, booklets, pamphlets and leaflets
- calendars of tertiary institutions
- company profiles
- conference papers and proceedings
- datasets made available online (ie. open data)
- digitised versions of material previously published in hard copy
- directories
- discussion documents
- documentaries, television series, music videos, and feature films on DVD or distributed online
- government publications
- guidebooks
- histories of families, groups, districts and organisations
- kits containing printed text
- loose-leaf publications and all updates
- magazines, journals and ongoing publications (serials)
- maps, charts, plans and tables
- microfiche and microfilm
- music recordings (including CD, cassette, and digital)
- navigational charts
- newsletters of all kinds
- newspapers, including free community newspapers
- occasional papers
- podcasts
- prospectuses
- reports
- resources published on CD/CD-ROM/DVD/USB etc
- scores and sheet music
- supplements
- working papers
- yearbooks
- zines
You’ll need to:
- make a separate deposit for any version in different languages
- make a separate deposit for every second or subsequent edition, including:
- revised, corrected, enlarged, or abridged editions
- editions where the name of the publisher or label has changed, even if the content hasn’t been altered
We collect each edition and update of physical and electronic publications to provide continuity to our collections. This lets researchers trace the development of works, and changes to the context in which they were created. Minor typographical changes do not constitute a new edition, but if you are in doubt please contact us to discuss whether we need to received your revised document.
Publications not covered by Legal Deposit
You don’t need to deposit copies of:
- blank forms or labels, programmes and timetables
- catalogues and trade advertising
- in-house material such as training manuals, teaching or course notes and minutes of meetings
- new editions of public domain texts not originally published in New Zealand, reproduced with no new supplementary material to which new copyright would apply
- offprints such as excerpts from publications, separately printed
- press releases
- publications distributed only to immediate family
- reprinted or reissued publications with no alterations to text or illustrations.