Legal Deposit System Council

On April 1, 1999 the Legal Deposit System Council(hereinafter referred to as "the Council"), an advisory panel of outside experts was established, following the reorganization of the former Legal Deposit System Research Council. The purpose of the Council is to contribute to the improvement and proper management of the legal deposit system.
The Council's activities can be divided into two categories;
(1) To deliberate important issues on (a)the legal deposit system and the legal system for the acquisition for the internet materials of the government agencies and local governments and the private online publication, and (b)the amount of compensation at the request of the Director General, and (2) make recommendations to the Director General concerning those issues. Within the Council, there is a Compensation Division to deliberate issues concerning the amount of compensation.
The Council is composed of not more than 20 members commissioned by the Director General. Furthermore, if deemed necessary for the investigation of special expert matters, the Director General may commission additional expert members. The members of the Compensation Division are appointed by the Director General. If it is necessary to investigate and discuss specific issue in greater depth, a subcommittee may be established under the Council.

Since March 1997, the National Diet Library (NDL) Legal Deposit System Research Council, which was an advisory panel of outside experts and the predecessor of the Legal Deposit System Council, deliberated on an acquisition system for electronic publications and its operation to deal with recent increases in electronic publications. On February 22, 1999 the Legal Deposit System Research Council submitted a report to the Director General after consideration at two subcommittees: one on Electronic Publication and the other on the Legal System. The report proposed three things: (1) the NDL should collect packaged electronic publications comprehensively like conventional publications are by the legal deposit system and the compensation should be equivalent to the production cost per copy. (2) When using packaged electronic publications, the NDL should try to balance the benefits of copyright holders, publishers, and users. (3) For the time being, the legal deposit system would not apply to networked electronic publications, which are transmitted and received over a communications network, and the NDL should acquire needed and useful publications positively and selectively by contract.

• The full report is here (in Japanese).

On June 7, 1999 the NDL consulted the Council on the amount of compensation for deposit of packaged electronic publications as it was necessary to determine the amount of compensation for those publications upon amending the legal deposit system in accordance with the 1999 report as above. The consultation referred to the Compensation Division.
Since June 18, 1999 the Compensation Division deliberated on the actual conditions of production and distribution of packaged electronic publications as well as the amount of compensation for packaged electronic publications and on July 13, 1999 the Compensation Division compiled a report on its conclusions. On July 19, 1999 the Council approved the report submitted by the Compensation Division as the Council's report after consideration and submitted to the Director General.

• The full report is here (in Japanese).

On April 7, 2000 an act for partial revision of the National Diet Library Law to include packaged electronic publications into the legal deposit system was promulgated with its effective date set for October 1, 2000.
In order to smoothly implement the revised legal deposit system, on June 5, 2000 the Director General consulted the Council on the best edition of packaged electronic publications to be deposited. The Council set up a Subcommittee on the Best Edition of Deposited Publication to deliberate the matter.
The Subcommittee deliberated the historical background and purpose of the ‘best edition’ clause of the National Diet Library Law, the best edition of conventional deposited publications, and features of issuance of packaged electronic publications. On August 3, 2000, the Subcommittee compiled a report.
On August 31, 2000 the Council approved the subcommittee report unanimously after consideration, decided on a report based on the Subcommittee, and submitted it to the Director General. The Subcommittee was abolished that day.
Upon the implementation of the revised legal deposit system on October 1, 2000, regulations on the best edition of packaged electronic publications to be deposited, on the amount of compensation for the deposit, and on the number of copies to be deposited of publications of the government as well as local public entities were established in September 2000.

• The full report is here (in Japanese).

On March 1, 2002 the Director General consulted at the 6th meeting of the Council on the inclusion into the legal deposit system of networked electronic publications issued in Japan. The consultation also included, in case they were not included in the legal deposit system, the scope of networked electronic publications to be acquired as well as the method for acquisition. The NDL once again consulted on networked electronic publications despite the 1999 report by the Legal Deposit System Research Council having proposed that for the time being the NDL should collect them by contract. That is because it was considered necessary to consider the creation of a new system that would enable efficient acquisition and use from a long-term perspective if the legal deposit system would not include networked electronic publications necessary for the NDL's mission.
The Council set up a Subcommittee on Networked Electronic Publications (Subcommittee 1) to deliberate the matter. Subcommittee 1 held three meetings from June 2002 until January 2003 and reported its conclusions at the 7th meeting of the Council on March 13, 2003. Based on the report, the Council approved the conclusion that networked electronic publications would not be included in the legal deposit system. The Council also confirmed that it was necessary to deliberate the matter especially from a legal perspective upon considering a new acquisition system. Subcommittee 1 was abolished on the same day.
On June 25, 2003, at the 8th meeting of the Council, it set up a Subcommittee on the Acquisition of Networked Electronic Publications (Subcommittee 2) in order to deliberate the matter from a legal perspective. Subcommittee 2 held five meetings from September 2003 to December 2004. Meanwhile, Subcommittee 2 reported the progress of its deliberations at the 11th meeting of the Council on June 2, 2004 and then reported the conclusions of Subcommittee 2 at the 12th meeting of the Council on December 9, 2004. The Council approved the conclusions of Subcommittee 2, and the Chairman of the Council proposed a report which integrated the two Subcommittees' conclusions. After the discussion the Council adopted this report unanimously and submitted it to the Director General on the same day. Subcommittee 2 was abolished on the same day.

• The full report "Concept of the Acquisition System for the Networked Electronic Publications" is here (in English).

On October 22, 2003 the Director General consulted at the meeting of the Council stating that "under the legal deposit system, what shall be the obligation of Incorporated Administrative Agencies, National University Corporations, and Local Incorporated Administrative Agencies to deposit publications? Also, what shall be the obligation of legal entities such as ‘Special Corporations’ and ‘Local Public Corporations’ to deposit publications?" The Council set up a Subcommittee on the Obligation of Incorporated Administrative Agencies and Other Agencies to Deposit Publications. On November 26 and December 16, 2003, the Subcommittee held meetings. On February 13, 2004 the Conclusion of the Subcommittee was reported at the 10th meeting of the Council. The Council approved it and adopted the Council's report based on the Subcommittee's report. The Chairman of the Council submitted the report to the Director General on the same day. The Subcommittee was abolished on the same day.

• The full report is here (in Japanese).

In accordance with the report, an act for partial revision of the National Diet Library Law which imposed the same obligations for deposit on Incorporated Administrative Agencies and other agencies as the Government and governmental agencies was promulgated on December 1, 2004 and came into force on January 1, 2005.

On July 23, 2009 the Director General raised the issue of the acquisition of online publications at the 16th meeting of the Council and the Council discussed the significance of acquisition, putting to use and preservation of electronic information.
On October 13, 2009 the Director General consulted on the acquisition system for electronic information corresponding to books and serials as prescribed in article 24, paragraph 1 of the National Diet Library Law made available by parties described in article 25 of the National Diet Library Law (private individuals or groups) at the 17th meeting of the Council. The Council set up a Subcommittee on the Acquisition of Online Publications in order to deliberate the matter.
The Subcommittee held three meetings from November 2009 until February 2010 and compiled an interim report.
On March 16, 2010 the Subcommittee introduced the interim report at the 18th meeting of the Council and the Council approved it almost as originally introduced.
On June 7, 2010 the Council unanimously adopted a report based on the Subcommittee's interim report at its 19th meeting and the Acting Chairman of the Council submitted it to the Director General.

• The full report is here (PDF: 1MB) (in Japanese).

On September 20, 2011 the Director General consulted the Council at its 21st meeting on compensation as it was necessary to determine the specific amount of compensation and its appropriate calculation method from a neutral and fair perspective when the NDL implemented systematic collection in accordance with the 2010 report mentioned above. The Council set up a Subcommittee on Compensation Regarding Online Publications in order to deliberate the matter.
The Subcommittee held meetings on October 20 and November 22, 2011 in which it discussed the matter and compiled an interim report.
On March 6, 2012, the 22nd meeting of the Council approved the interim report after a question-and-answer session. The Council adopted an interim report based on that of the subcommittee and the Chairman of the Council submitted it to the Director General on the same day.

• The full interim report is here (PDF: 580KB) (in Japanese).

The Council and the Subcommittee deliberated the issue, which had not been settled in the 2012 interim report, from the 2012 fiscal year until the 2020 fiscal year.
In the 2020 fiscal year the Subcommittee recapped the last several years of deliberation and on March 5, 2021 at the 5th 2020 fiscal year meeting the Subcommittee compiled a report.
On March 25, 2021, at the 34th meeting of the Council, it approved the Subcommittee's report. On the same day the Council adopted the final report based on the Subcommittee's report and the Chairman of the Council submitted it to the Director General.

• The full final report is here (PDF: 601KB) (in Japanese).