[njharman]

What law in The US? In ancient times, like 40+ yrs ago, before the first big extension / copyright automatically granted at moment of creation. It used to be req to send copy to LoC to earn right to enforce copyright.

I've published several books the LoC does not have.

Also the national libraries aren't the sole archives of culture. Univ and private libs preserve all the important stuff government has not the interest or budget for.

[ghaff]

To my surprise, I learned a few months back that mandatory deposit [1] is still actually a thing, albeit a completely unenforced thing. (I believe deposit is needed if you want to sue for damages, but in theory you're supposed to deposit in any case.)

[1] https://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/mandatory_deposit.html