← Glossary
Legal deposit
A legal obligation in France to deposit a copy of every published work with the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF).
As soon as a book, including an ebook, is made available to the public in France, the publisher (or the self-published author) must make the legal deposit. It's an administrative declaration, not a way of protecting copyright: it exists to build the national documentary heritage.
Digital legal deposit is done online on the BnF platform and is free. You don't need an ISBN to do it.
Related terms
Write your ebook with AI, sell it everywhere
PDF and EPUB export included, ready for KDP, Apple Books and Kobo.
Get started