The Copyright Receipt Office
The Copyright Receipt Office of the British Museum, now the Legal Deposit Office of the The British Library, is the primary copyright deposit library in the UK. Publishers are required by law to deposit one copy of any book published in the UK and 'book' for these purposes includes pamphlets, magazines, newspapers, sheet music and maps as well as – although this specific example unaccountably usually goes unstated – fanzines. There are five further copyright libraries that are entitled to request deposit copies. The requirement was set out in the Copyright Act 1911 and now the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003, an update on the legislation to reflect the digital age.
From its 1960 edition Ron Bennett's Directory of Science Fiction Fandom included a reminder of the legal requirement for all UK fanzine publishers. 'The Principal Keeper of Printed Books', the official in charge of the Office, was listed as member 0 of OMPA and was shown as an honorary member of IPSO. Graham Boak, writing about OMPA in Maya #2 (April 1971) confirmed that he was 'of course, excused activity requirements'.
We will likely never know how many fanzine editors did comply with the legal requirement although some fanzines are easily traceable through the British Library's online catalogue. The requirement remains in force and it was certainly the case that some editors received deposit demands in the twenty-first century.
Links
- The British Library at bl.uk
| Publishing |
