For the first time in the history of its digitisation campaigns, the National Library of Luxembourg (BnL), in collaboration with Luxorr and EUIPO, has made available online more than 4,000 books from its Luxembourgish Collection.

At the end of 2024, the National Library of Luxembourg (BnL) and Luxorr (Luxembourg Organization for Reproduction Rights) signed a historic pilot license enabling the online publication of “out‑of‑commerce” works—materials that are no longer available through traditional commercial channels or that were never commercially exploited, such as publications by public institutions and associations.

This initiative supports the BnL’s Vision 2030 strategy to preserve and promote Luxembourg’s cultural heritage while ensuring fair compensation and respect for creators’ rights.

Based on the law of 1 April 2022 implementing the EU Copyright Directive (2019/790), this “extended effect” license is the first of its kind in Luxembourg. It also covers unknown or unrepresented rights holders, helping resolve long‑standing challenges in identifying rights owners for heritage collections.

At the beginning of 2025, the BnL had published the list of works it considers to be commercially unavailable on the EUIPO portal (European Union Intellectual Property Office). From this point onwards, a six-month waiting period begun, accompanied by an awareness-raising campaign. During this time, rights holders could exercise their right to withdraw.

In early 2026, for the first time in the history of its digitisation campaigns, the BnL has made more than 4,000 books from its Luxembourgish Collection available online. These documents can now be accessed remotely in full text on eluxemburgensia.lu, where they can be searched by title or author.

This milestone significantly enhances access to Luxembourg’s cultural heritage. By providing full access to thousands of previously unavailable documents, the BnL is reviving parts of the country’s forgotten literary and historical record and opening new avenues for research in the field of “Luxemburgensia.”

For further information: https://bnl.public.lu/en/a-la-une/actualites/communiques/2026/patrimoine-retrouve.html

Browse the newly digitised books here: https://eluxemburgensia.lu/en/books.