Publishing Legislation Online Project (PLOP)

Excerpts Of Texts From Laws Relevant To The Book Sector Translated Into English

Obligations for publishers

Law “On Delivering Free Legal Deposit Copies Required by Law of Printed and Other Publications” Effective as of: 14. 11. 1997

Article 3
(1) The deliverer of legal deposit copies required by law shall be the publisher who has published a printed or electronic publication. The deliverer of legal deposit copies required by law can be also an issuer of the copies of the publication, if the publisher has a written agreement with the issuer on delivering legal deposit copies required by law to the Latvian National Library.
(2) The deliverer of the legal deposit copies required by law of electronic publications shall mark all cassettes, diskettes, discs and compact discs with a reference about what kind of algorithmic language and software the publisher has used for writing information to publish the concrete electronic publication.

Article 4
(2) Legal deposit copies required by law shall be received by libraries free of charge.

Article 5
(1) The requirement of this Law “On Delivering Legal Deposit Copies Required by Law” shall refer to every publication and non-published material of the Republic of Latvia, and to every publication, which has been issued outside the Republic of Latvia to the order of publishers registered with the Republic of Latvia.

(2) The Latvian National Library shall be delivered:

2) 14 copies from every publication of a book and brochure; ...
5) 5 copies from every electronic publication …;
6) 2 copies from every non-published matter.

(3) If an electronic publication is an annex to the printed publication, it shall be delivered along with the printed publication in compliance with the number of copies of the respective printed publication.

(4) The kinds of printed publications, electronic publications and non-published matter, whose legal deposit copies required by law shall be delivered to the Latvian National Library, shall be defined by the Cabinet of Ministers.

Law “On the National Library” Effective as of: 16. 12. 1992

Article 4
Sources of fund compilation for the Latvian National Library

1. The Latvian National Library shall be entitled to receive five legal deposit copies required by law of printed matter of the publishers of the Republic of Latvia irrespective of the site of their printing. The publishers of the Republic of Latvia shall ensure the allocation of legal deposit copies required by law for compiling funds of the Latvian National Library.
2. The Latvian National Library shall be entitled to one free copy from every foreign publication, which is imported for sale within the territory of Latvia.
3. The Latvian National Library shall exercise pre-emptive rights to buy for a bid price the library owned by a natural person, or selected publications, which are sold at auction.
4. The Latvian National Library shall have the right to store publications prohibited by law.

Copyright

Law On Copyright and Neighboring Rights” Effective as of: 15. 05. 1995

Article 1. Definitions used in the Law
1) Publication means that copies of a work with the consent of the author have become available to the public with the condition that the number of copies must satisfy the reasonable demand of the public, taking into account the nature of the work.

Article 4. Works to which copyright applies
1. Copyright protects scientific, literary, artistic, and musical original works in the fields of science, literature, music and visual art, regardless of their form of expression and format, and they include:
1) literary works (books, brochures, computer programs and other written works, speeches, lectures, addresses, announcements, sermons, and other works of similar nature);
2. Copyright belongs to the author from the moment of the work`s creation. No registration, special documentation or observance of formalities is necessary to affirm copyright ownersip and existence.

Article 13. Moral and economic rights of the author
The author of a work, shall, independently of his economic rights, and even where he is not the owner of said rights, have rights:
1) to be acknowledged as the author;
2) to decide whether and when the work shall be disclosed to the public or published;
3) to demand that the use of the work be terminated, compensating losses incurred upon the user due to the termination of the use of the work, in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 2, Article 36 of this Law and of the Article 1589 of the Civil Law.
4) to claim authorship of the work - rights that his name, as far as practicable, be indicted in an appropriate way on all copies, and in connection with any public act concerning his work as well as to demand that his name be indicated on the copies, and in connection with every public act concerning his work, or that his pseudonym be so indicated, or anonymity.
5) to demand the inviolability of the work - that is the right to permit or prohibit any changes or supplement to his work to its title; and
6) to take meassures against any mutilation, distortion, or other modification to the work (also to terminate the contractwithout compensating losses), as well as the infringement of rights to the work which could cause damage to the author`s honor or reputation.

Article 28. General provisions
1. Copyright shall remain in force throughout the author`s life and for 50 years after the author`s death….

Article 33. Rights to use periodicals and other publications
1. Legal persons, which publish encyclopedias, encyclopedical dictionaries, atlases, periodical collections of scientific works, newspapers, magazines and other periodical publications, have rights to use such publications as a whole, if not otherwise agreed in the contract with the authors who have made a creative investment in the formation of such publications.

Taxes

Law “On Value Added Tax”

Effective as of: 27. 10. 1995/ amendments: 02. 11. 1995

Section II: Exemptions and allowances

Article 6. Exemptions

1. The following deliveries of goods and services shall be exempt from taxes:

20. … educational and scientific literature, the publications of original literature in the Latvian language, and publications envisaged for children, which have been published in Latvia, according to the lists approved by the Ministry of Education and Science, and printing house services for producing such literature and publications.

Import customs

Law “On Customs Duties (Tariffs)”

Effective as of: 01. 12. 1994

Article 22 (23) - Customs duties exemptions

The following items shall be exempt from customs duties:

Books and other kinds of printed matter, which are envisaged for use in educational and scientific institutions, and also libraries.

CPD wishes to acknowledge the help of the SF - Latvia.