[Link] Court Strikes Down Mandatory Deposit of Books for Library of Congress

People are often surprised to learn that there are two separate requirements under federal law related to submitting copies of works to the U.S. Copyright Office. First, when applying to register a copyright, copies must be submitted as part of the registration process. Second, the copyright owner of a work published in the United States is also generally required to submit one or more copies to the Copyright Office, even if they do not register the copyright. This separate requirement is known as “mandatory deposit.” While one set of copies can fulfill both the registration and mandatory deposit requirements, they are distinct legal obligations.

These copies are ultimately intended not for the Copyright Office, but for the Library of Congress, the Office’s parent agency. For decades, the Library has relied on mandatory deposit to maintain and grow its collections—currently estimated at over 175 million items. This past August, however, the future of this system was called into question when a federal appeals court held that the mandatory deposit requirement is unconstitutional as currently applied.

Small Publisher Challenges Deposit Demand

The lawsuit arose after the Copyright Office sent a “demand letter” to Valancourt Books, a small independent press that publishes rare and out-of-print fiction. The letter instructed Valancourt to deposit one complete copy of 341 of its books. Failure to do so, the Office explained, would make Valancourt liable for a fine of up to $250 per work and the total retail price of the copies demanded, as well as an additional fine of $2,500 for a willful and repeated failure to comply. Valancourt responded that it could not afford the cost of printing and shipping the books and requested that the Office withdraw its demand. After further discussion, the Office reduced its demand to 240 books but did not withdraw it altogether. Valancourt then filed suit, arguing that the mandatory deposit requirement violates the Constitution’s Takings Clause, which bars the government from appropriating property without just compensation.

Read the full article: https://authorsguild.org/news/court-strikes-down-mandatory-deposit-of-books-for-library-of-congress/