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Our collection mandate

Shelves – some full, some still empty – in the compact units installed in our stacks in Frankfurt am Main

The German National Library's collection mandate encompasses all texts, images and sound recordings published in Germany or in the German language, translated from German or relating to Germany that have been issued since 1913.

The Law Regarding the German National Library (DNBG) and the Legal Deposit Regulation (PflAV) are the foundations on which our collections are based.

What we collect

Our legal mandate requires us to maintain an unbiased collection comprising

  • media works published in Germany,
  • German-language media works published abroad,
  • foreign translations of German-language media works published abroad,
  • so-called Germanica, i.e. foreign-language media works published abroad that relate to Germany,
  • printed works compiled or published between 1933 and 1945 by German-speaking emigrants.

The media works covered by the mandate include all physical publications such as books, journals, newspapers, maps, sheet music, standards, musical recordings and audio books. In 2006, our collection mandate was extended to incorporate so-called online publications. These are non-physical publications made available through the internet, for example e-books, e-journals, e-papers, digital audio books, musical performances or websites.

Mandatory deposit

Our collection mandate aims to ensure that our collections are complete, regardless of the type of media or form of publication.

If you publish a media work on a physical medium in Germany, you are obliged by law to send two copies to the German National Library free of charge and without being requested to do so.
In the case of online publications, only single copies need be deposited. Various import interfaces are provided for deposits of digital documents. If a publication appears both online and in a physical format, copies must be deposited in both formats.

Mandatory deposits must be made by all companies, institutions or persons

  • who have the right to distribute the media work or to make it available to the public, i.e. publishing companies, originating authorities or self-publishers, and
  • whose headquarters, business premises or main place of residence is located in Germany.

The following pages provide information on the procedure to follow when sending media works subject to a deposit obligation to the German National Library.

Collection of physical media works

Collection of non-physical media works

Web archiving

Special rules

Daily newspapers

We do not collect physical editions of daily newspapers provided they are deposited as e-papers with identical layouts.

Book-on-demand (BoD)/print-on-demand (PoD)

The law also requires the deposit of media works printed individually on demand. As a rule, we collect them digitally as online publications; however, we expect two physical copies to be deposited if the quantity published amounts to 25 or more.

Dissertations and postdoctoral theses

University doctoral regulations specify how a university publication can be made accessible to the public. In general, online publications must be deposited at the German National Library. If a university publication is also published in a physical format with identical content, only the online version will be included in our collections. However, if there are discrepancies in content or if the publication is distributed in physical form only, two mandatory copies must be deposited. Here the number of copies published is immaterial.

Foreign publications subject to the legal deposit requirement


We collect single copies of media works published abroad. These are acquired by legal deposits, as gifts, by exchange or by purchase. Licensed editions published abroad must be deposited with the German National Library if the original was published in Germany. This specifically includes translations into other languages. The party required to fulfil the deposit obligation is the rights holder who published the work in Germany and who can grant rights to third parties, e.g. licenses to distribute the work abroad.

Websites


We collect archival copies of selected websites using automated web harvesting procedures.

Bibliographic information

Every one of the publications we add to our collections is indexed in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie (German National Bibliography) and in our catalgue.

The bibliographic information you submit to the directory of Verzeichnis Lieferbarer Bücher (VLB – German Books in Print) is used for the New Release Service and for cataloguing purposes. It is not necessary to send a separate message to the German National Library.

When publishing media works that fall within our collection mandate, the following bibliographic information can be included in the imprint:
“The German National Library lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at https://dnb.dnb.de.” This information is also available in other languages.
The decision is yours; you are not required to consult us first.

Legal basis

The German National Library’s collection mandate is anchored in the Law Regarding the German National Library (DNBG) enacted on 22 June 2006. The Legal Deposit Regulation (PflAV), which is an integral part of the DNBG, contains supplementary regulations on applying the law. Both acts of legislation must therefore be considered together.

Law regarding the German National Library (DNBG)
(only available in German)

Regulation on the mandatory deposit of media works at the German National Library (PflAV)
(only available in German)

Along with the German National Library, the State Libraries in each federal state also have a regional entitlement to the submission of deposit copies. The conditions are regulated by the respective state government.

More about regulations in the federal states:
Pflichtexemplarregelungen in Deutschland 120kB, PDF - Barrier-free file
(only available in German)

Short-URL: https://www.dnb.de/sammelauftrag
Contact: erwerbmedien@dnb.de

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