E-Legal Deposit System of Online Publications

• 1. Overview of E-Legal Deposit System of Online Publications
• 2. Collection Based on National Diet Library Law
• 3. Donation of Materials Excluded from E-Legal Deposit Requirements
• 4．Frequently Asked Questions
• 5．Contact Us

In recent years, e-books and e-magazines have been widely published.
In order to accumulate these online publications as cultural assets and ensure their availability for future generations, the National Diet Library, in accordance with the Legal Deposit System and based on Article 25-4 of the National Diet Library Law, has been collecting and preserving privately published e-books, e-magazines, and other such online publications through the E-Legal Deposit System of Online Publications since July 1, 2013.
Online publications refer to digital information published or made public online, equivalent to books or serial publications, including e-books and e-magazines. Online publications eligible for this system must be published or publicly available by a publisher (individual, institution, publisher, etc.) in Japan.

• Leaflet for the E-Legal Deposit System of Online Publications (PDF: 163KB) (Japanese)

Under Article 25-3 of the National Diet Library Law, since April 2010, the NDL has been comprehensively collecting internet materials, such as websites, from public organizations in Japan, including national and local governments, through the NDL Web Archiving Project (WARP). Private internet materials, including online publications, are selectively collected through WARP with individual permission from the publishers.

However, books and magazines that had previously been distributed as physical publications were beginning to spread widely in society as e-books and e-magazines through the internet, and there was a risk that content on the internet could be lost over time. Therefore, the NDL set its sights on developing legislation and achieving a comprehensive collection of private e-books, e-magazines, and similar digital publications.

On June 22, 2012, a law was enacted to amend parts of the National Diet Library Law, enabling the NDL to collect and preserve online publications published by the private sector. On July 1, 2013, the law came into effect, and the NDL began comprehensive collection of free and Digital Rights Management (DRM)-free online publications. On June 1, 2022, a law was promulgated to partially amend the National Diet Library Law concerning paid or DRM-protected online publications. Then, on January 1, 2023, with the enforcement of this law, the NDL began collecting them.

• Private persons (excluding public organizations such as national and local governments) who have made online publications accessible to the public and have disseminated them via the internet or similar means.
  (Article 25-4 of National Diet Library Law)
• If the publisher and the distributor, such as an e-bookstore, are different entities, the publisher, such as a publishing company, is, in principle, obligated to make the e-Legal Deposit.

Under Article 43 of the Copyright Act, the NDL does not require the permission of the copyright owner to collect online publications.

Online publications included in the websites of public institutions, such as national and local governments, are collected through the NDL Web Archiving Project (WARP).

Among digital information published or made publicly available on the internet (or similar platforms) by publishers (including individuals, institutions, and publishing companies) within Japan, information that fulfills the requirements below is subject to e-Legal Deposit Requirements under Article 25-4 of the National Diet Library Law.

Requirements regarding the date of publication or release

• Free and DRM-free online publications: Published and made available after July 1, 2013
• Paid or DRM-protected online publications: Published and made available after January 1, 2023

File requirements (files must be in one of the following formats)

• Files with specific codes (ISBN, ISSN, DOI)
• Files created in specific formats (PDF, EPUB, DAISY)

The following online publications are excluded from e-Legal Deposit Requirements.

• Confidential online publications
• Forms, templates, and other simple online publications (e.g., various guides, blogs, short text message posts, product catalogs, classroom newsletters, diaries).
• In cases where the contents of online publications differ neither in volume nor substance from online publications collected previously.
• Online publications intended to administer applications or approvals for e-commerce transactions, etc.
• Online publications reported to the NDL to be identical to printed pages of paper books or periodicals held by the NDL, confirmed as such by the NDL.
• Online publications intended for long-term use that will not be deleted (Online publications contained in university institutional repositories, etc.).
• Online publications that are technically difficult to collect
• Online publications included in the internet materials collected by the NDL through the NDL Web Archiving Project (WARP).

Please click the "オンライン資料の納入" button below and complete the procedure from the page that appears. Online publications may be deposited by 1) Automatic acquisition, 2) Electronic transmission, and 3) Sending by mail.
For DRM-protected online publications, please deposit files without DRM.

• The online publications collected under the National Diet Library Law will be available for viewing in the facilities of the NDL (Tokyo Main Library, Kansai-kan, and International Library of Children's Literature). If permission is obtained from the copyright owners, the materials will be available online. Please browse online publications using the NDL Digital Collection.
• The NDL offers in-library and remote photoduplication services to registered users only for documents in PDF format under the Copyright Act.
• The NDL does not provide photoduplication services for online publications where printing is technically restricted. Additionally, the NDL does not offer a download service for electronic data.
• The Digitized Contents Transmission Service for Individuals and the Digitized Contents Transmission Service for Libraries are unavailable.
• For use or long-term preservation, the format of the collected data may be converted.

Online publications published before the date of enforcement are not subject to the e-Legal Deposit Requirements, but deposits are accepted if offered by the publisher. The NDL does not accept donations from third parties.

• Free and DRM-free online publications: Published and made available before June 30, 2013
• Paid or DRM-protected online publications: Published and made available before December 31, 2022

• Frequently asked questions: Deposits of Online publications

Digital Library Division, the Kansai-kan of the National Diet Library, Japan
E-mail: online