What is the Legal Deposit Scheme and why is it important?

Publishers and distributors in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland have a legal obligation to send one copy of each of their printed publications to the Legal Deposit Office of the British Library within one month of publication. They are also encouraged to send a copy to each of the other Legal Deposit Libraries in the UK at:

Bodleian Library, Oxford
University Library, Cambridge
National Library of Scotland
Library of Trinity College, Dublin
National Library of Wales

The right of the B...