Mandatory information on a paper or digital book

Some important terms deserve to be defined beforehand.

Legal deposit: what is it?

The legal deposit is the obligation for the publishersave each book or periodical made available to the public at the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). This deposit is for novelties and first print runs, not reprints.

It is compulsory if the book is made available to a public outside the family, whether for consideration or free of charge.

Deposit must be made on site, by mail or online, at the latest on the day of publication.

ISBN number: what is it?

L'ISBN: titleContent is one identification number assigned to each book. It is mandatory regardless of the medium of publication (paper or digital).

The ISBN request must be made online before the legal deposit of the work. It is issued by the French-speaking Agency for the International Numbering of the Book (Afnil).

Request ISBN - Agence Francophone pour la Numération Internationale du Livre

ISSN number: what is it?

L'ISSN: titleContent is an identification number assigned to recurrent publications not scheduled for publication in advance in the publication plan. These publications are also referred to as continuous resources. This is the case, for example, with periodicals (magazines, newspapers, magazines) or book collections.

The ISSN shall not constitute not prior authorization of publication. It is issued by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF).

Request ISSN number (paper) - Bibliothèque nationale de France

The ISSN and ISBN numbers are not incompatible. Indeed, publications may bear the 2 numbers (e.g. book collection).

Any publication subject to the legal deposit requirement must include mentions obligatory. Other mentions are only optional.

Mandatory particulars

The terms differ according to whether the publication is a book or a periodic (magazine, newspaper, magazine).

Optional entries

Such statements shall not be not required. However, they are recommended.

A paper book or periodical may contain following optional terms :

• Rights reserved (copyright) : "© name of the publisher, year of the first edition". Copyright allows you to mention that a work is protected against the plagiarism. It is not mandatory since in France your work is automatically protected as soon as it is created. It's still best to include it on your book, especially if you're publishing in the United States where copyright is recognized.

• Prohibition of the right of reproduction (or right to copy) and the corresponding legal text, whether or not accompanied by the following extract:
  "The Code of Intellectual and Artistic Property authorizes, under paragraphs 2 and 3 of article L.122-5, on the one hand, only “copies or reproductions strictly reserved for the private use of the copyist and not intended for collective use” and, on the other hand, analyzes and short quotations for the purpose of example and illustration, “any representation or reproduction, in whole or in part, made without the consent of the author or his successors in right or title, is unlawful” (paragraph 1 of article L. 122-4). Such representation or reproduction, by any means whatsoever, would therefore constitute an infringement punishable by Articles L. 335-2 et seq. of the Intellectual Property Code."

• Translator Name in the case of a translated work and a reference to the original language.

The particulars, whether mandatory or optional, must be entered on the following pages :

• Name and address of the publisher : on the page preceding the title page
• Printer name and address : on the last page of the book and/or on the page preceding the title page
• Date of legal deposit : on the page preceding the title page and/or on the last page of the book
• Number ISBN: titleContent : on the back of the title page, at the bottom of the 4th cover, and at the bottom of the last page of the jacket, if applicable.
• Public selling price : of 1^era or 4^e cover
• Drawing End Date : on the last page of the book and/or on the page preceding the title page
• Reprint Date : on the last page of the book and/or on the page preceding the title page
• Number ISSN: titleContent : on the last page of the book and/or on the page preceding the title page
• Notice of deposit at the CSCPJ: titleContent (for youth publications): on the last page of the book and/or on the page preceding the title page
• Articles of law and copyright : on the page before the title page or on the back of the title page
• Translator, illustrator, proofreader, model designer : on the page preceding the title page