The following terms shall have the meanings assigned thereto:

• Deposit: The mandatory free-of-charge deposit of copies of works subject to this Law intended for publication and circulation among the public at King Fahd National Library.

• Repositories of Information: All tangible forms containing the product of human intellect, whether printed, recorded, or photographed, such as books, maps, publications for the blind, films, tapes, and records.

• Author: A person who deposits the intellectual or artistic content of the work. For the application of this Law, an author includes the person who verifies, translates, summarizes, comments on, explains, edits, or prepares the work or, in the case of works without an author, the entity that publishes the work.

1. Every intellectual or artistic work produced in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia whether printed, published, produced, photographed, recorded, or made available through any other means enabling its publication and circulation among the public shall be subject to deposit at King Fahd National Library, whether the work is released for the first time or is reprinted, republished, reproduced, rephotographed, or re-recorded, and whether the work is intended to be offered free of charge or for a consideration.

2. The preceding paragraph shall apply to Saudi authors, printers, publishers, and producers, as well as Saudi government agencies, when issuing or publishing any of the aforementioned works abroad.

3. The preceding paragraphs shall include the following:

• a) Books, booklets, pamphlets, annuals, dictionaries, lexicons, encyclopedias, indexes, abstracts, periodicals, conference proceedings, atlases, photographs, maps, plans, brochures, textbooks, bibliographies, guides, official and semi-official gazettes, private newspapers, and government publications of all types and forms.

• b) Repositories of audio, visual, and audiovisual content, such as films, tapes, slides, records, hard discs, microfilms, publications for the blind, and floppy and compact discs.

• c) Artistic works as specified in the Implementing Regulations.

• d) Genealogical charts.

• e) Postage stamps.

4. The provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) shall, as an exception to the requirement of publication and circulation among the public, apply to theses and dissertations submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for a master’s or doctoral degree or their equivalent.

5. If the work subject to deposit comprises multiple parts or volumes published separately or periodically, each part or volume shall be deemed an independent work for deposit purposes.

6. This Law shall not apply to the following works:

• a) Commercial and non-commercial advertisements, price lists, invitations, greeting cards, certificates, business cards, and postcards.

• b) Patents, stocks, financial instruments and securities, banknotes, sale and lease contract forms, and the like.

• c) Forms and questionnaires for collecting data for research or for administrative or commercial purposes, whether for official or private use.

• d) Government publications of a confidential nature.

• e) Other works as determined by the Board of Trustees.

1. The following persons shall be obligated to deposit repositories of information and other materials provided for in Article 2, according to the following order:

• a) The author: If he publishes the work himself, whether such work is funded by the author or by another party.

• b) The printer: If he prints the work at his own expense, or if the name of his printing press appears on the work that does not bear the name of the author or publisher.

• c) The producer: If he funds the production of an artistic work.

• d) The publisher: If he publishes the work, regardless of its subject matter or form, whether written, audio, visual, or audiovisual.

2. The following entities shall be obligated to deposit theses and dissertations:

• a) The university, college, or institute approving the thesis or dissertation within the Kingdom.

• b) Saudi educational or cultural attachés with regards to approved theses or dissertations written by Saudi students abroad.

Two copies of each work subject to deposit must be deposited; however, a single copy shall suffice for theses and dissertations as well as artistic works, as determined by the Board of Trustees.

1. The person responsible for depositing the works referred to in Article 2 shall carry out the following procedures prior to printing, recording, or producing such works:

• a) Fill in the Library’s deposit form.

• b) Obtain a deposit number.

• c) Include the following information in the work:

  • Deposit number.

  • Information on authorship, publishing, or production rights.

  • International Standard Number for works that require such number as determined by the Board of Trustees.

  • Full publishing or production information.

2. The provisions of the preceding paragraph shall not apply to the works provided for in Article 2(3)(e) and Article 2(4), nor to official and semi-official gazettes, and private newspapers, or any material printed, published, or produced for Saudis or Saudi agencies abroad.

3. All works must be deposited before offering them for sale or distribution by the persons obligated to deposit such works. Exempted from such requirement are Saudi newspapers and magazines, which must be deposited on the day of their issuance, and theses and dissertations, which must be deposited after their approval.

4. Subject to Article 7(1), works shall be deposited with King Fahd National Library either in person or via registered mail even without a request being made by the Library. The Library shall provide the depositor with a receipt acknowledging the delivery of the required copies.

5. The Department for Deposit and Registration at King Fahd National Library shall enter the data of all deposited materials into an electronic database; the Library shall issue the Saudi National Bibliography based on such database.

1. Any person who violates the provisions of this Law shall be subject to a fine not exceeding three thousand riyals and shall be obligated to deposit the required copies of the work in accordance with this Law.

2. Violations shall be detected, recorded, and investigated according to rules agreed upon by the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Media, and the Library.

3. A committee shall be formed by a decision of the Board of Trustees to consider such violations; the committee shall comprise at least three members, one of whom shall be a legal advisor.

4. Decisions of the committee shall be passed by majority vote and shall not become effective until approved by the Secretary General.

5. A person against whom a penalty decision is issued may appeal such decision before the Board of Grievances within 60 days from the date of notification thereof.

1. The Library may complete deposit procedures in conjunction with other government libraries across the Kingdom to facilitate compliance with the deposit requirement.

2. The copies to be deposited pursuant to this Law must be the highest quality copies of the copies intended for circulation.

3. Deposit with King Fahd National Library shall not be deemed a substitute for any other type of deposit required by the State.

4. This Law shall repeal the provisions of Articles 12 and 17 of the Law of Printed Materials and Publication issued pursuant to Royal Decree No. M/17, dated 13/4/1402H, and the provision of Article 26 of the Copyright Law issued pursuant to Royal Decree No. M/11, dated 19/5/1410H, as well as any provisions conflicting therewith.

5. The Library’s Board of Trustees shall issue the implementing regulations and the decisions necessary for the implementation of this Law.

6. This Law shall be published in the Official Gazette and shall enter into force one month after the date of its publication.