A French book carries mentions obligatoires: the éditeur name and address, the dépôt légal line, the ISBN and the print-completion mention (achevé d'imprimer, or impression à la demande for print-on-demand). This tool builds them in French.
A French book carries its imprint on the verso of the title page, sometimes echoed in a colophon on the last page. It gathers the mentions obligatoires (the statutory mentions), the copyright lines, and the achevé d'imprimer, the short printing statement that closes the book. For a translated title it also names the original work and the translator.
Two duties sit behind this page: printing the mandatory mentions in the book, and the dépôt légal, a separate delivery of copies to the Bibliothèque nationale de France. One is ink on the page, the other is a shipment.
For a book published or printed in France, the arrêté du 12 janvier 1995 lists the mentions obligatoires:
The last one mostly takes care of itself. If you print through KDP or IngramSpark, as most self-publishers do, the service adds its own page stating where each copy was printed, and your copyright page carries "Impression à la demande" instead of a traditional achevé d'imprimer (the generator below does this). Only if you hire a printer directly do you add their name, address and the completion date yourself.
Strictly speaking these mentions only bind books published or printed in France, and the BnF states that imported copies carry none of them. If you publish through Kindle Direct Publishing from abroad, your copies are often printed elsewhere in the EU and count as imported, so the law may not even apply to your book. In practice you should include the mentions anyway: you cannot control where any given copy gets printed, they cost nothing to add, and a French reader expects to see them.
Separately from the French mentions, since December 2024 the EU General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) adds its own requirements for any print book sold in the EU, France included:
This layer is separate from the mentions obligatoires and does not follow the imported-copies exemption, so it reaches you as a non-EU author regardless of where each copy is printed.
This requirement frustrates a lot of authors, so here is where it actually stands. The rule does apply to print books, but no authority in France or elsewhere in the EU has been documented fining or prosecuting an indie author over a missing responsible person. The lever that actually bites is the marketplace: Amazon can remove a listing that lacks the details, and that, rather than a government fine, is the real exposure. On KDP print, enforcement has so far been loose.
Naming a responsible person is also cheaper than the rule makes it sound. Dedicated services start around 200 euros a year, and some print-on-demand printers already appoint one you can use. Most authors treat it as low-cost insurance against a listing being pulled rather than protection against a realistic fine. You can name your own responsible person on the page, which the generator below supports, whatever your platform does.
One clarification worth making: the news that books were exempted from an EU regulation refers to the deforestation rules, not the GPSR, so print books remain within the product safety rules. Whether those rules reach ebooks is genuinely unsettled, so this tool adds the GPSR lines to the print format only.
Everything else on the page is publishing convention rather than law. Copyright protection is automatic in France, so these lines document ownership without creating it:
For most self-publishers, and unless based in France, no. The dépôt légal is a legal duty to deliver copies of your book to the Bibliothèque nationale de France, separate from the "Dépôt légal" line printed on the page (that line is one of the mentions and costs nothing to include). The duty only applies to publishers established in France: if you live outside France and self-publish, you have nothing to send. Copies printed abroad and imported into France are the importer's problem, not yours, and even then only past 100 copies.
Sending your book anyway is entirely optional, and the BnF welcomes it: a voluntary deposit puts your French-market edition in the national collection. One ordinary retail copy is enough, and the BnF accommodates print-on-demand (an "impression à la demande" note replaces the printer address). If you live in France and publish your own book, you are the publisher, and the deposit duty does apply to you.
Books aimed at young readers fall under loi n° 49-956 du 16 juillet 1949 on publications for children and adolescents. They must carry a bold line on the first or last page naming that law, followed by the month and year of the deposit made with the Ministry of Justice. This is specific to jeunesse titles and sits alongside the ordinary mentions.
Two cautions for the print-on-demand route. Amazon must not be named as the publisher: you or your imprint are the publisher, and Amazon is only the printing service. And neither KDP nor IngramSpark deposits your book at the BnF, so if you want the book in the national collection, the voluntary deposit described above is yours to make.
Also check your print-on-demand service's current GPSR arrangements before relying on them for the EU responsible-person requirement, as platform practice in this area keeps changing. Naming your own responsible person on the page, which the generator below supports, does not depend on what the platform does.
Last reviewed: July 21, 2026
Publishing in France? You will need the book translated too. See what it costs to translate your book into French (France).
One page you can use in both editions. It includes the print-only mentions.
If you want the minimum, you only need to fill this.
On for print-on-demand (KDP, IngramSpark). Replaces the traditional achevé d'imprimer line.
If you are outside the EU, product safety rules require naming an EU-based responsible person on print books.
Adds the loi 49-956 notice required for children's publications.
Tous droits réservés.
"All rights reserved."
Impression à la demande *
Print-on-demand mention, in place of the traditional achevé d'imprimer.
* This line covers a mention that is legally required in France.
Requirements can change, so verify with the official sources linked in the guide or a professional for your situation. This is general information, not legal advice.
The 1995 arrêté lists the publisher name and address, the printer name and address, the print-completion date, the ISBN, the price in euros and the "dépôt légal" line with its month and year. Print-on-demand books adapt several of these, and imported copies are exempt entirely.
The mentions obligatoires target books published or printed in France. Copies printed elsewhere in the EU and shipped into France count as imported and carry no mandatory mentions. You cannot tell per copy where it was printed, so including the mentions is the safe, low-cost choice.
If you are based outside the EU and sell a print book in France, the EU product safety rules (GPSR) ask for a contact email and the name of an EU-established responsible person on the page. No authority has been documented fining an indie author over a missing one, and the real-world consequence is a marketplace removing the listing rather than a fine. A responsible-person service costs around 200 euros a year, so most authors treat it as cheap insurance. The rules apply to print; their scope for ebooks is unsettled.
Books receive no dépôt légal number to print. The line is prospective: "Dépôt légal" followed by your expected publication month and year. The receipt with a number arrives after you deposit.
The BnF accepts "Impression à la demande" in place of the traditional achevé d'imprimer, and lets self-publishers name the print service without an address. Amazon also adds its own printing page, so you do not need to state a country yourself.
The éditeur deposit falls on publishers established in France, so a foreign self-publisher is usually not the obligated depositor. The BnF still welcomes a voluntary deposit for a French-market edition.
Publishing in France? You will need the book translated too. See what it costs to translate your book into French (France).
