New Zealand has embraced electronic publishing as a means of disseminating information. Some organisations publish information on CD Roms, and many more turn to the Internet as a means of publishing material quickly, cheaply, and with the potential to reach a large audience.

Electronic publishing is a different paradigm to traditional paper-based publishing. Unlike traditional publishing, electronic documents can be revised quickly and cheaply. Web pages are updated, restructured and reorganised with ease. Many web sites are in a constant state of flux with new material added and old material deleted on a daily basis.

As more information is published electronically, we need to consider how this information can be preserved for future generations. In this article we look at how paper-based information is preserved, how the Government intends to extend this regime to electronic documents, and some concerns that have arisen as a result of this new initiative.

Legal deposits for books

Under the National Library Act 1965, publishers and printers of books are required to provide copies of those books to the National Librarian. This requirement is known as "legal deposit". The purpose of legal deposit is to build and preserve a comprehensive collection of materials published in New Zealand. Legal deposit assists in preserving New Zealand's documentary heritage so that it is available, subject to any applicable terms or conditions, for the benefit of New Zealanders.

National Library of New Zealand Bill to extend legal deposit to electronic materials

In March 2000 the Government introduced the National Library of New Zealand Bill (to replace the present National Library Act 1965).

The Bill extends the current scope of legal deposit. Under the Bill, publishers of electronic documents can be required to deposit documents with the National Librarian. Legal deposit will apply to all documents that are printed or produced in New Zealand (or by a publisher who is resident in New Zealand or has its principle place of business in New Zealand). It is likely that web sites that are based in New Zealand will fall within the scope of legal deposit.

In order to make a document subject to legal deposit;, the Minister will publish a notice in the Gazette requiring a publisher to give the National Librarian a specified number of copies (maximum three copies) of the document.

If a publisher is required to give the National Librarian an electronic document, then the publisher must give the National Librarian the required number of copies of the disk, video or other means by which the document is recorded or stored. The publisher must provide reasonable assistance to enable the National Librarian to read the document in a useable form. For example, if electronic information is encrypted, the publisher may be required to provide encryption keys or unencrypted copies.

If the electronic document is made available by means of the Internet (for example, a web page) then the publisher must enable the National Librarian to read and store, in both electronic and non-electronic form, the required number of copies of the document in a useable form. This requirement may lead to practical difficulties for a publisher of interactive web pages - for example, it may be difficult to store an animated web page in non-electronic form.

Before new materials can be brought within the legal deposit scheme under the Bill, the Minister must consult with affected publishers as to the terms on which documents must be provided.

A printer or publisher who fails to comply with the new requirements may be liable for a fine of $5,000.

Some publishers have expressed concern that complying with the new provisions may take additional time or expense. If an electronic document requires special software to display properly, publishers may have to provide a copy of this software to the National Librarian. Other publishers are concerned that it will be difficult to provide a copy of a dynamic document (such as a document from a web site) where the content of the document is constantly changing.

While there will no doubt be some teething difficulties with complying with the new Bill, it is important that documents (regardless of whether they are paper based or electronic) are preserved for future generations. The Bill embraces the principle of technological neutrality found in the Electronic Transactions Bill - all documents, whether paper based or electronic can be added to the National library collection.

Supplying copies of electronic documents should not cause a publisher to incur significant expense, although some additional time to comply with the Bill may be required. If the relevant documents are not publicly accessible, the publisher can request that public access to the document is restricted. The requirement for the Minister to consult with the relevant publishers prior to requiring documents to be deposited with the National Librarian should enable the concerns of publishers to be addressed.

This is a general summary only and should not be taken as a substitute for specific advice.

Contacts

Don Holborow, Partner, don.holborow@simpsongrierson.com
Sarah Plumley, Solicitor, sarah.plumley@simpsongrierson.com

x-tech group Simpson Grierson Web site: x-tech group Simpson Grierson