Bibliographic heritage in Brazil: history of laws, policies and instruments of legal protection

This paper offers a historical overview of the evolution of laws, policies and instruments for the legal protection of bibliographic heritage in Brazil from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. The literature review of cultural heritage and current legislation reveal that the notion of bibliographic heritage is associated with the practice of legal deposit of current books and control of circulation of rare and antique books. The research presents the key instruments of Brazilian cultural laws, analyzing how these could be used to protect bibliographical heritage.