KADUNA POLYTECHNIC

COLLEGE OF ADMINISTRATIVE STUDIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE

HND II REGULAR

LEGAL ISSUES

ASSIGNMENT

BY

Group: D

S/N NAME REG NO

1 PRECIOUS YEMILO YUSUF 20/0789

2 ABDULRAHMAN MUHAMMAD TAHIR 20/0805

3 JUANA DAVID KWASSAU 20/0807

4 MUFTA'UDEEEN ABUBAKAR 20/0816

5 KHAMIS ADAMU ALIYU 20/0818

6 ALIYU YAHAYA 20/0828

7 FATIMA TASIU DAUDA 20/0840

8 ABDULHAFIS TEMITOPE ABDULRAFIU 20/0864

9 ABDULRASHID ABUBAKAR 20/0870

10 VERONICA WISDOM 20/0876

11 JIMOH YAHAYA 20/0878

12 HANNATU DALHAT MUHAMMAD 20/0882

13 HANNA GBEMISOLA OLOFINMUYIDE 20/0885

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14 OLUWAKEMI TOPE OYEBODE 20/0887

15 AMINA BADAMASI 20/0889

16 AMINA MUHAMMAD 20/0890

17 MUHAMMAD MUKHTAR 20/1014

18 EZEANYA EBUKA ANTHONY 20/1015

19 NEFISAT SHABU 20/1018

20 DOLAPO OLAYINKA 20/1020

QUESTION:

DISCUSS THE RELEVANT OF THE LEGAL DEPOSIT TO NIGERIA

LIBRARY

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INTRODUCTION

The 1981 Guidelines for Legal Deposit Legislation prepared by Dr. Jean Lunn
proved useful to many countries in developing their own legislation.

In Nigeria, the account of legal depository began formally in April 1950, exactly
four hundred and thirteen years after the Ordinance of Montpellier. It was known
as Nigeria Publication Ordinance No. 13 of 1950, later amended to Publication Act
29 of 1951, which culminated in the promulgation of the National Library Act No.
29 (section 4) of 1970. It is pertinent to state here that the National Bibliographic
Control Department (NBCD) of the National Library of Nigeria is saddled with the
responsibility of administering legal deposit in Nigeria.

Legal deposit is important for various reasons that include compilation of an

authoritative national bibliography, promotion of copyright protection, monitoring
the growth of the publishing industry, stocking of selected libraries including the
National Library. In some countries, legal deposit is used as a tool to supervise the
publishing industry against production of subversive as well as uncultured
literature. Nigeria's Legal Deposit System, however, is based mainly on two
factors, namely; compilation of an authoritative national bibliography and
preservation of the country's literature heritage. Legal deposit is subject to
numerous challenges almost in all countries, which include: lack of a clear
demarcation of scope of the legal deposit materials, overseas publishing, lack of
cooperation amongst the legal deposit centres, lack of cooperation between the
legal depositories and the copyright office, and limited cooperation from the
publishing industry. However, the law with its sanctions has not dealt summarily
with the phenomenon of non-compliance plaguing legal deposit in Nigeria. This
prompted questions such as: Is it that the law cannot regulate the publishing sector
as it ought or the establishment lacking the will to enforce the law? This study will
therefore review the relevant portions of the Publication's Laws in Nigeria and
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attempt to depict how these laws are administered, enforced as well as identified
the shortcomings and proffered solutions on how to strengthen the administration
and enforcement of the Legal deposit laws in Nigeria.

DEFINITION

“Legal deposit” is the term used to refer to both the legislation and the activity of
mandatory or statutory submission of every publication by every publisher in a
designated library or accredited institution in a country. It involves an organised
collation of all printed materials in an approved facility for the primary purpose of
storage or safekeeping. The facility of a legal deposit is known as a depository or
repository. Although these two terms are used interchangeably. A depository can
be a national, state or university library and any institutions including national
archives, museums, and other national institutions so accredited for the purpose .
National Library Decree 1970 in Section 4(7) defines ‘book’ as including:
All literary works such as books, pamphlets, sheets of music, maps,charts
plans, tables and compilations, dramatic works, collective works such as
encyclopedia, dictionaries, year books or similar works, newspaper, magazines
and similar periodicals, any work written in distinct parts by different authors or in
which a part or parts of work of different authors is or are incorporated, and every
part or division of such a work, and all forms in which documentary or oral records
are published.

Historical Background
The principle of a legal deposit system, aimed at the development and
preservation of a national collection of published material, was first implemented
in 1537 when King Franqois I of France issued the “Ordonnance de Montpellier .”
This royal decree forbids the sale of any book without first having deposited a
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copy in the library of his castle. The purpose of the decree was to collect and
gather the current and the future production of all editions of the books “which
deserved to be seen” in order to ensure that it would always be possible to refer to
the original work as “first published and not modified.”

According to historians, despite its official and royal character, the decree was not
well respected, but the fact remains that the principle was now established and
would be used in other countries.
In Nigeria, the idea of setting up the National Library of Nigeria began with the
role of the Nigerian Division of West African Library Association (WALA)
whose efforts and activities were more directly connected with the realization of
the dream for a National Library of Nigeria, a dream that dated back 1930s11.
Following the recommendation of the Nigerian Division of (WALA), which later
became the Nigerian Library Association in 1962, a Library Advisory committee
was established in the late 50`s. This Committee had the assignment of working
out plans for library services in the country and to persuade the government to
agree to set up a National Library. On the attainment of independence, the Nigerian
government embraced the idea of a National Library as proposed by the
association Consequently, the Ford Foundation of America consented not only to
finance but also provide the necessary expertise for a feasibility study. The survey
recommended a National Library of Nigeria, thus backing up the recommendation
of the Library Advisory Committee. Dr Carl White a distinguished
Scholar/Librarian was appointed to come to Nigeria in February 1962 to assist in
setting up necessary technical personnel for the National Library. Thus, in
September 1964, the government passed the first legislation14. The National
Library of Nigeria came into existence by the National Library Act passed in
September, 1964. This Act was later replaced and substituted with the National
Library Decree No 29 of 1970. It is a grade “A” parastatal and the apex library in
the country. It is the giant memory of the nation, her intellectual store house and
data bank for learning and remembering process. It is the Vanguard of library
development and information services delivery, advising institutions,
organizations and MDAs at all levels of government on library development.

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DISCUSS THE RELEVANT OF THE LEGAL DEPOSIT TO NIGERIA
LIBRARY

Organizational Framework of Legal Deposit in Nigeria

Legal deposit is administered by the National library of Nigeria through its

National Bibliography Control Department (NBCD) in Lagos . This responsibility
devolved on the National Library in 1970 by virtue of the National Library Decree
No.29 of 197035 which took effect from 28th June 197036. It should be recalled
that prior to the promulgation of this decree, the library of the University College,
Ibadan and that of the Secretariat in Lagos were charged with the task by the first
legal deposit law, the Publications Ordinance 1950. They were thus the first legal
depositories in Nigeria.
National Bibliographic Agency
This provision made the National Library Nigeria's National Bibliographic
Agency responsible for National Bibliographic Control network aimed at
providing access to publications throughout the world. This responsibility and
others deriving from section 4 National Library Decree 1970 were assigned by the
National Library to the National Bibliographic Control Department. Legal deposit
is the major source of publications required for National Bibliographic Control. It
is facilitate by section 4 of the 1970 decree which entitles the department to three,
10 and 25 legal deposit copies of everything published in Nigeria by private or
commercial publishers, state and federal government agencies, respectively for
permanent preservation. Such a publication must be delivered within one month of
publication and at the expense of the publishers to NBCD in Lagos or any of its
branches in the state branches of the National Library.
The law also stipulated that a copy of every such deposit should be
transmitted to the University College, Ibadan Library. This provision can be said
to have restored the deposit right of University of Ibadan Library which was
withdrawn by Legal Notice 112 of 1964, revitalised the national deposit collection,
provided a bridge between the new collection at the National Library and the old
one held at Ibadan and restored continuity of deposit collection.The provision that
copies of the book to be delivered shall be perfect copies of the whole published
and on the best paper on which the book is printed. Section 4(2) is in the interest of
the publishers because deposited editions of publications are the only ones
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accepted in evidence in court in the event of any litigation. It should therefore
leave no iota of doubt as to the authenticity of the edition published by the
publisher. As the custodian of legal deposit, the National Library is bound by law
to produce at regular intervals publications lists of its legal deposits which make up
the current national imprint of the period covered.
The National Bibliography of Nigeria being the most authoritative list of
Nigeria's national imprint with worldwide circulation, subscribed to by libraries
and institutions of the world, advertises and presents the listed publications to a
global market which the publishers, may not have envisaged, but make valuable
profit from anyway.
Every publication bears a unique identification number that fosters the
recognition of the publication globally: the ISSN for periodicals and ISBN for
books. It is a requisite for the international listing of a publication which every
worthy publisher must obtain to provide international access to his publication. It is
the control number used for publishing operations.

National Bibliography Control Department (NBCD)

The NBCD offers free advice to publishers on the standard format of the book,
especially the data requirements of the title page, its verse, indexing etc. The
service is very important to both the library and the publishers because it raises the
production standard of the Nigerian book and makes it as bibliographically
adequate as any book published anywhere in the world.The permanent preservation
of deposited books is an endeavour that has invaluable benefit in that it transmits
the publisher's work from generation to generation; his imprint thus outliving him,
the author and his generation. in fact, a depositor whose publication is out

Legal Framework of Legal Deposit in Nigeria Publication Ordinance of 1950

Legal deposit Law in Nigeria had its origin in “1950 Publication” which gave the
University of Ibadan Library and the Secretariat Library in Lagos the right to
collect two copies each of every book published in the country. Ibadan University
Library soon undertook the publication of 'Nigeria Publications', the country's
National Bibliography in 1953. All the regional governments also enacted their
own depository provisions for publishers within their regions to deposit certain
number of copies of every publication to the regional library board. The Eastern
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Regional Board Acts of 1955 gave the right to Central Library Enugu. Western
Region enacted a similar Act in 1957. The Northern Nigeria “Publication Law”
enacted in 1964 also vested all deposits rights with the Library of the Ahmadu
Bello University.
I) Decentralisation of the Legal Deposit System in Nigeria
Though the National Library had been established by 1962, it was not backed by
law until 196440. Even then, the law, the National Library Act No.6 of 1964
according to section 7(1) was restricted to the “Federal Territory”41 (i.e Lagos)
and it did not contain any provisions for deposit obligations nor bibliographic
functions. Section 6 of the Act42 only provided for the library to collect
publications of the federal government (not as legal deposits). What was thus
established was a National Library without national jurisdiction. The federal
government had about that time issued the Legal Notice No.112 of 1964 formally
withdrawing its bibliographic control of the whole country (as stipulated hitherto
by the 1950 ordinance) and restricted it to the federal territory of Lagos. The legal
notice withdrew the deposit right from Ibadan University Library and gave it to
Lagos University Library and accordingly repealed the Publication Ordinance 1950
The territorial limitation of this law was in line with the ongoing decentralization
of the legal deposit function as each regional government had established their
own legal depositories and by so doing, removed their territories from the ambit of
the 1950 ordinance, thereby rendering it moribund. This was the situation the
federal government reacted to by repealing the 1950 ordinance.

II) Effect of the Decentralisation of Legal Deposit System

The decentralization of legal deposit in Nigeria abruptly disrupted the fourteen
year old national collection built up at Ibadan University Library. This meant the
loss of bibliography control of Nigeria publications, the cessation of the regular
publications lists especially the annual accumulation of books deposited titled,
Nigerian Publications: Current National Bibliography issued by the library.
Besides the complications resulting from the policy of decentralization
championed by the regional government include:
i) the restricted access to publications across regional boundaries since the
publications of regional governments were deposited then deposited within;

8
ii) the non-cooperation among the depositories which did not encourage the
exchange of publications that might have improved access to them ;

iii) the non- coordination which would have ensured proper monitoring of
publishers’ output and the building of an accurate bibliographic record of Nigerian
publications among others The most significant lesson from the confused state of
affairs engendered by the rush for bibliographic autonomy by the regions was that
whatever the policy change, it should guarantee continuity of existing deposit
services.

National Library Act of 1964

The National Library Act was passed in 1964 but it failed to provide for the
fulfillment of either the function of National depository or the publication of a
National Bibliography. In Section7 (1) of the Act it is clearly stated: "this Act may
be cited as the National Library Act, 1964 and shall apply to the Federal Territory
only". Looking at this it would appear that Nigeria had a National Library
established by law which neither a National depository nor could publish the
National Bibliography of Nigeria. The Ibadan University continued to fulfill these
functions under the provision of the Publication Ordinance of 1950.

National Library Decree No. 29 of 1970In 1970, the National Library Decree was
promulgated in which a real attempt was made to rectify the major short-comings
of the National Library Act of 1964 with emphasis on deposit obligations and
bibliographical functions. The Decree No 29 of 1970 applies throughout the
country and has supremacy over any Library Edicts of state government in the
event of conflicts. Under this Decree, the National Library as the National
Bibliographic Agency of Nigeria was enjoined to received three, ten and twenty-
five copies of everything published in Nigeria by private or commercial publishers,
State and Federal Agencies respectively within one month of publication at their
own expense. A copy each of everything received will be sent to University of
Ibadan Library for continuity. It is also note worthy that the UNESCO guidelines
for the collection of legal deposit material is incorporated in the National Library
decree of 1970.

9
The National Library Decree No 29 of 1970 was, in many respects, an
improvement of the National Library Act, 1964 it repealed. The decree applied
throughout the country and therefore made the National Library truly national with
power to establish and maintain a branch in each state. It took precedence over any
library edict of state governments in the event of conflicts51. Its supremacy was
therefore not in contention. The law specially charged the National Library with
deposit obligations and attendant bibliography functions.

Challenges and Prospects in the Enforcement of Legal Deposit in Nigeria

Libraries

i) Non-flexibility of the Law

Where a book deposit is not made, it is the duty of the NCBD to demand for it in
writing after which a recalcitrant depositor may be charged to court and on
conviction made to pay a fine, which according to Facts on Legal Deposit
published by NCBD, not exceeding $50 or N6,500 (Six thousand five hundred
naira) and may in addition be ordered to pay the value of the deposit copies75.
This form of penalty has essentially remained unchanged since the first law in
1950, but there is no record in the sixty year history of legal deposit in Nigeria of
any offending depositor who has been charged to court under the law, yet it is not
as if all the publishers have been complying with the law.

ii) Lack of Will to Enforce the Law

As early as 1972, that is two years after the law was made, it had been averred that
unless it was vigorously enforced, it was going to lose its efficacy in a short time
because at that time, the publisher more or less decided when and what to deposit,
in spite of the National Library and the stipulated penalty against defaulting. This
lack of will to enforce the law, is not peculiar to Nigeria alone but a worldwide
phenomenon. It is submitted that defaulting publishers ought not to be spared while
the executors must employ the various devices available to them to enforce the
law.
iii) Flaws in Legal Deposit Laws in Nigeria

10
The want of enforcement have also been attributed to flaws in legal deposit laws
in Nigeria. It is averred that some of the laws left 'uncompleted that which they set
out to do'. For example; whereas section 4 of the Eastern Region Publication Law,
1955 stipulates that 'there shall be kept at such office by such officer as the
Premier appoints a Register to be called the Catalogue of Books printed in Eastern
Nigeria, wherein shall be registered as soon as may be after delivery of any book...'
The law also required that entries so made be published quarterly in the Regional
Gazzete. In spite of the bibliographical significance of this publication to the
region, it never saw the light of the day because no officer was appointed by the
Premier as stipulated in the law to carry out the task.

iv) Proliferation of Legal Depository Laws and Cost of Publishing

From the publishers’ point, another factor responsible for their reluctance to
deposit their work is the proliferation of legal depositories and the excessiveness
of the laws, with the present 36 states and FCT of the federation making
individual publication laws and the publishers overburdened by the cost of having
to make several deposits at the same time. This situation presents a scenario of
state library boards demanding deposits on behalf of their state government and
state branches of the National Libraries requiring the same obligation for the
central depository. Added to this confusion is the high cost of publishing in Nigeria
due to the importation of all the inputs the payment of which is in foreign
exchange.
v) High Mortality Rate of Publishing Firms
While the issue of ignorance of the law on the part of publishers could be
deliberate ploy and could have been made an unattractive excuse if the law were
summarily enforced, there is the high mortality rate of publishing firms which
have made it difficult to track down publishers of some books found in circulation.
vi) Insignificant Penalty

Even though no defaulter has been convicted under the legal deposit laws in
Nigeria, a look at the penalty itself will show that it is so insignificant that it
would hardly deter any publisher. A fine of N100,an amount that can hardly pay
for a book presently in the country, will be easier to pay and preferably to
depositing three copies of a book. This may have informed the raising of the
11
amount to six thousand, five hundred naira according to the NBCD brochure of
1995. However commendable this effort at enforcing compliance with the law is, it
may not be actionable since the law has not been appropriately amended.

vii) Agencies of Government Flout Legal Deposit Laws with Impunity

The issue of willful default is not limited to the private depositor alone.
Government which enacted these laws are expected to comply readily with them.
But contrary to this, unfortunately, agencies of government flout legal deposit laws
with greater impunity than the private publishers. Government being the greatest
publisher in the African continent, the depositories will be overwhelmed were they
do faithfully deposit their work. Therein lies the magnitude of their non-
compliance.

Thus the following recommendations are proffered for effective application of

the Legal Deposit Law in Nigeria Library:

i) Deposit Obligations be made a Prerequisite for Publication

It is suggested that deposit obligations should be made a prerequisite before a

publication can be put on sale in Nigeria. Any publisher that has complied with
the law will be issued with a clearance certificate which must be presented to
distributors before they accept to distribute the publication. This is the practice in
Poland, Yugoslavia and the former USSR. Getting the cooperation of the book
distribution sector this way, will foreclose any sales outlet for publishers who in
their bid to evade legal deposit, publish their work under a foreign imprint. With
this arrangement, as long as a publication is distributed in Nigeria, it will have to
be deposited at the NBCD. In addition, like Sudan, Nigeria should extend the
deposit obligations to cover Nigerians authors published abroad.
ii) Knowledge of the Legal Deposit Laws
After over fifty years of legal deposit in Nigeria, the obligation has remained
largely unknown to the public or ignored by publishers. To eradicate this apparent
ignorance of the law, effective publicity is strongly recommended to educate the
people on the legal deposit laws at the state and federal government and the
essence of complying with them and the attendant penalties for non-compliance.
The National Library therefore must use every available media of mass
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communication to educate Nigerians on legal deposit.
iii) Reawakening the Consciousness of Administrators

It is not as if the law is not enforceable and cannot achieve its objectives but not
with administrators who are apathetic to enforcing it. It is therefore suggested that
officers of the NBCD should re-double their monitoring of book outlets to identify
new books on display which are yet to be deposited and ensure that their publishers
comply or be summarily sanctioned according to the law.

iv) Tax Incentives

Since the publishers grouse with the law is the cumulative cost of fulfilling the
obligation, government may consider some form of tax rebate to publishers for
every deposit made. No matter how token, it will encourage publishers to deposit
their publications, keep an accurate record of their deposit which may well be a
veritable publications list of individual publishers. The record will for certain, be
made readily available since it attracts some financial relief.

v) Stringent Penalty
The minor fine of N100 be reviewed to a multiple of the cost of the publications to
be deposited. A fine of not less than ten time the cost of the number of copies
required for deposition. This penalty will certainly discourage a publisher from
considering flouting the law and paying a fine when he can get a rebate otherwise.
vi) Collaboration with other Organisations
The National Library needs to reach out to other organisation whose activities can
promote its deposit functions. Such working relationships can be established with
for instance, the Nigeria Copyright Commission, Nigerian Publishers Association,
Association of Nigerian Printers, Nigerian Education Research & Development
Council, the various associations of Nigerian authors and book development
organisations. The inter-organisational cooperation will foster better understanding
among institutions and present the book sector with a more positive picture of legal
deposit and result in an equally positive response to deposit obligations.
vii) Review of the Legal and Administrative Framework
While all the suggestion listed may be vital, some are more practicable or feasible
in view of the existing legal and administrative frameworks examined in this study.
13
Such steps may be considered before the others. Whatever actions are taken, one
thing is certain, the need for a review of the legal and administrative frameworks of
legal deposit in Nigeria in line with current realities in order to achieve the desired
results. The entire year history of legal deposit has been that of reviews brought
about mainly by political changes. Another one will not be one too many as long as
a better legal deposit system evolves.

Conclusion
To sum it up, it is incontestable the smooth operation of legal deposit is determined
by three crucial factors to wit: adequacy of the provisions of the law to demand the
obligation and ensure compliance; ability of the receiving agency to enforce the
law; the will of the publisher to comply with the law. Where the provisions of the
law are inadequate, appropriate amendments are made to strengthen them. An
efficacious law requires a competent and firm authority to execute it. Where this is
lacking, the agency should be reorganized and given the necessary impetus to
enforce the law. And as for the recalcitrance or non-compliance on the part of the
publisher, the weight of the penalty should be heavy enough to persuade the
obligator to comply and to make non-compliance unattractive.

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REFERENCES

Larivière, Jules (20 October 2000). "Guidelines for Legal Deposit Legislation"
(pdf).

UNESCO (Revised, enlarged and updated ed.). Paris.

Retrieved 5 May 2020. A revised, enlarged and updated edition of the 1981

publication by Dr. Jean LUNN IFLA Committee on Cataloguing

"Copyright Act 1968". Federal Register of Legislation. 24 February 2016.

Retrieved 3 May 2020.

"Legal Deposit > States & Territories". National Library of Nigeria. "Legal
deposit".

State Library of NSW. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.

"Legislation Database". Legislation Database. Retrieved 7 May 2020.

Buchanan, Kelly (July 2018). "Digital Legal Deposit: Australia". Library of

Congress (Law Library of Congress). Retrieved 3 May 2020.

"National Archives Law (No. 48 of 1973)". Sri Lanka Consolidated Acts. 30 April

2005. Retrieved 25 October 2016.

"Legal deposit". Of Amadu Bello University, Zaria. 30 April 2005. Retrieved 25

October 2016.
15
Surchat, Pierre. "Biblioteca nazionale svizzera (BN)". Dizionario storico della

Svizzera (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2018-02-16.

Retrieved

27 January 2019.

"Dépôt légal". BCU Lausanne (in French). Archived from the original on 2017-
07-

03. Retrieved 28 2019.

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