Mandatory Deposits

Mandatory deposit (section 407 of Title 17 of the United States Code) requires the owner of a copyright or of the exclusive right of publication or distribution for a work to deposit copies of the work with the U.S. Copyright Office within three months after it is published, for the use of the Library of Congress (see Mandatory Deposit of Copies or Phonorecords for the Library of Congress (Circular 7D) (PDF, 113 KB) and section 202.19 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Deposit of Published Copies or Phonorecords for the Library of Congress). The Library of Congress may select any published work deposited with the Copyright Office for its collections.

If a work is distributed in the United States, the copyright owner or the owner of the exclusive right to publish or distribute the work in the United States is subject to the requirements of the mandatory deposit provision. These requirements apply to a work that is first published in a foreign country as soon as that work is distributed in the United States through the distribution of copies that are imported, part of an American edition, or otherwise distributed or offered for sale in the United States. However, if you have registered your work with the Copyright Office, the work may no longer be subject to the mandatory deposit rules. For more information, see Mandatory Deposit of Copies or Phonorecords for the Library of Congress (Circular 7D) (PDF, 113 KB).

Mandatory deposit requires the owner of a copyright or of the exclusive right of publication or distribution for a work to deposit copies of the work with the U.S. Copyright Office within three months after it is published, for the use of the Library of Congress. Separately, the Copyright Act provides an optional, fee-based registration mechanism to formally register the work with the U.S. Copyright Office. This registration process provides a legal record of the claim to copyright ownership as well as additional legal benefits in cases of infringement. Optional registration usually fulfills mandatory deposit requirements.

We encourage publishers to establish a regular procedure for sending deposits immediately after publication. To determine whether a work is subject to mandatory deposit, review Mandatory Deposit of Copies or Phonorecords for the Library of Congress (Circular 7D) (PDF, 113 KB).

Send physical deposit copies for works, except for serials or other periodicals to:

Library of Congress
Copyright Office
Attn: 407 Deposits
101 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20559-6600

For print serials or other periodicals, see below FAQ "What are the deposit requirements for print serial publications?"

Owners of print serials must establish two complimentary subscriptions for the Library of Congress to ensure the Library automatically receives two copies of each issue.

Before initiating subscriptions, contact the Acquisitions & Deposits division (A&D) to confirm that subscription copies will be provided. The letter should include the name of the publisher, the title of the serial, the ISSN number assigned to the serial (if any), and the issue date and numerical or chronological designations that will appear on the first issue provided under the subscription. You may submit this information in an email to [email protected]. A&D will notify you in writing if the Library declines to receive the subscription.

If you have not received a demand for mandatory deposit and would like to register your work, you may file your application and pay the fee online with eCO, the Electronic Copyright Office, or use a paper form. If you send a hard-copy deposit and file using eCO, include the shipping slip that is created when you fill out the application on your computer.

If you file using a paper form, send the work, the completed application form, the fee, and the shipping slip in one package.

Use this address for both eCO registrations and paper-form registrations:
Library of Congress
U.S. Copyright Office
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20559-****

To expedite the processing of your claim, use the address above with the zip code extension for the type of work below:

• 6222 for literary work
• 6211 for visual arts work
• 6233 for performing arts work
• 6238 for motion picture or other audiovisual work
• 6237 for sound recording
• 6226 for single serial issue

If you have received a demand for mandatory deposit and would like to register your work while submitting the required copies, follow the procedures in Responding to a Demand for Mandatory Deposit by Registering Your Work and Submitting the Required Copies (Circular 7C) (PDF, 78 KB).

Yes. Certain categories of works—for example, jewelry, wallpaper designs, scientific or technical diagrams, and three-dimensional sculptural works—are exempt from mandatory deposit. For a complete list of types of works exempt from mandatory deposit, see Mandatory Deposit of Copies or Phonorecords for the Library of Congress (Circular 7D) (PDF, 113 KB).

Additionally, under certain circumstances, special relief from deposit requirements may be granted. Any decision as to whether to grant special relief will be made by the Register of Copyrights in consultation with other appropriate Library officials and based upon the Library’s acquisition policies.

Requests must provide specific reasons why special relief should be granted and must be signed by or on behalf of the owner of the copyright or the owner of the exclusive right of publication or distribution in the work. Send requests for special relief via email to [email protected] or by mail to

Associate Register of Copyrights and
Director of Registration Policy and Practice
U.S. Copyright Office
P.O. Box 70400
Washington, DC 20024-0440

Yes. On March 1, 1989, the qualification "with notice of copyright" was eliminated from the mandatory deposit provision (Public Law 100-568). As a result of this change, all works under copyright protection that are published in the United States on or after March 1, 1989, are subject to mandatory deposit whether published with or without a notice.

Mandatory deposit is a legal obligation (section 407 of Title 17) and applies to all U.S. and foreign publishers distributing their works in the United States. A CIP obligation is limited to those publishers who have entered a contractual agreement with the Library of Congress. In exchange for the Library providing preliminary cataloging information to the publisher for works submitted to the CIP program, the publisher agrees to provide a copy of the publication to the Library of Congress. The data created by the CIP program facilitates the distribution and acquisition of new books.

No. CIP is a separate program within the Library of Congress that requires participating publishers to submit one copy of published works. The CIP is in addition to the two copies required for mandatory deposit.

As described in Copyright Registration of Computer Programs (Circular 61) (PDF, 109 KB), the deposit requirement for registration is one copy of identifying portions of the computer program. However, to satisfy the mandatory deposit under section 407, a “complete copy” of the published work must be deposited. A complete copy is defined in the regulations as a copy that includes all components that make up the unit of publication, even if any of those units are in the public domain. So, if the published user guide is normally part of a package that contains other elements, then the mandatory deposit requirement requires the deposit of those other elements, too. For example, if the user guide is published as part of a package that contains a CD-ROM, an installation guide, and installation software, then each of these other elements must be deposited in addition to the user guide to fulfill the mandatory deposit requirement.

The Library stores electronic deposits of copyright-protected works in a secure environment, providing access through a closed system, not through the public internet.

Copyright-protected materials in the Library’s digital collections are encrypted at rest and in transit, and the security measures protecting them have never been compromised.

Works may be deposited in a physical format in accordance with the Best Edition Statement, which can be found in Best Edition of Published Copyrighted Works for the Collections of the Library of Congress (Circular 7B) (PDF, 135 KB).

Works may be deposited electronically in certain circumstances:

• The Copyright Office issues a written demand for an electronic-only book or serial. If your work is published only online and the Office sends you a written demand for mandatory deposit of the work, you must deposit the work electronically.
• The Copyright Office offers you electronic deposit as an alternative to depositing a physical copy of the work. If you receive a letter offering special relief to deposit a work in an electronic format instead of sending physical copies, follow the instructions in the letter or agreement.

To arrange for electronic deposit, please contact the Acquisitions & Deposits division by email at [email protected] or by phone at 202-707-7125. Electronic deposits are made in a secure environment; please do not send deposits via email.

For electronic-only works, submit the best edition in accordance with the formats listed in the “Electronic-Only Works Published in the United States and Available Only Online” section of the Best Edition Statement (PDF, 135 KB).

For works subject to a grant of special relief, unless otherwise specified, the Library will accept an appropriate “preferred” format listed on the Library of Congress Recommended Formats Statement. Such files must contain no measures (such as digital rights management [DRM] technologies or encryption) that control access to or prevent use of the digital work.

Please contact the Acquisitions & Deposits division by email at [email protected] or by phone at 202-707-7125 with any questions.