AS A first-time writer-cum-publisher, I am shocked to learn that publishers who fail to comply with the statutory requirement for Legal Deposit are not "prosecuted".

It also appears to me that the National Library Board (NLB) accepts such non-compliance.

When I read the criteria for joining DNet, the network that links publishers, organisations, donors and content developers to the NLB, it was stated that publishers must have a deposit rate of more than 80 per cent of their physical and/or electronic materials within a published year. I would have expected the deposit rate to be 100 per cent.

Perhaps the NLB should amend the statutory requirement to mandate the deposit of one copy of their work instead of the current two copies. After all, only one copy will be "preserved" in its repository.

Lee Soh Hong (Miss)