Clause 4 - PRINTED PUBLICATIONS: THE BRITISH LIBRARY
Legal Deposit Libraries Bill
4:00 pm
Mr Chris Mole (Ipswich, Labour)
The clause deals with the means by which the British Library board is entitled to receive copies of every work published in print. I take the opportunity to return to a point raised by the hon. Member for Ceredigion about the usual practice of deposit libraries of purchasing supplementary copies of publications to make them more widely available—when appropriate and with the publisher’s agreement. That regime will be extended in other clauses to act as a general approach. A copy of the printed publication must be delivered to the British Library within a month of publication, and that copy must be of the same quality as the best copies published in the United Kingdom at that time. The British Library board must provide a receipt for the deposited printed works received. The clause effectively replicates the provisions under the 1911 Act.