Legal Deposits

Uppsala University Library was granted the right at the end of 17th century to free copies of all documents published in Sweden. These laws for legal deposits form the basis for the Library's vast collection of Swedish materials.

What are Legal Deposits?

  • Everyone who copies or publishes a work for general distribution in Sweden is obliged by law to send one copy each to seven specific libraries. Uppsala University Library is one of these libraries. The Law for Legal Deposits encompasses printed books, newspapers, brochures, maps, posters, postcards etc., but also electronic documents that are published in a physical format (cd-roms, computer games etc.).
  • Sound recordings and moving pictures (e.g. film) are also encompassed by this law, but these are sent to the Swedish National Archive for Recorded Sound and Moving Images (SLBA)

Who should send legal deposits to the Library?

  • Printers/ copying and scanning companies and (in certain cases) publishers or other distributors are obliged to deliver legal deposits to the Library.

What happens to the legal deposits at the Library?

  • The Carolina Library receives all the legal deposits that are sent to Uppsala University Library. The deliveries are checked and distributed within the University Library.
  • The National Library of Sweden, Lund University Library and the Swedish National Archive for Recorded Sound and Moving Images (SLBA) (with certain exceptions) are obliged to preserve the legal deposits. Other libraries comply with the regulations of their own universities.  

Read more

Questions about legal deposits?

Contact
Britta Wijkander
Carolina Library
Tel.: +46(0)18-471 39 74, +46(0)70-425 07 94
E-mail:  britta.wijkander@ub.uu.se

Last modified: 2022-10-04
Print