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The oldest surviving Act in this regard is the Press and Registration of Books Act, 1867. It also remained the fundamental law governing the rules for the regulation of the publication of newspapers and of having printing presses.
The Act requires that the name of the printer, the place of printing and the name of the publisher and place of publication must be legibly printed on every book or newspaper printed/published within India (Sec.3).
For having a press to print books or newspapers, a declaration must be made before the District Presidency or Sub-divisional Magistrate giving description of its location.
Two conditions are necessary to be fulfilled for publishing a newspaper. One, the name of the editor must be clearly printed on every copy of the newspaper. Two, a declaration must be made before the District, Presidency or Sub-divisional Magistrate within whose jurisdiction the newspaper is to be published, stating the following facts:
- name of the printer and publisher
- premises where printing and publishing is conducted,
- the title, language and periodicity of the newspaper.
The declaration should be made by the printer and publisher either in person or through an authorized agent. If the printer or publisher is not the owner of the paper, the declaration should specify the 'name of the owner. But, making a declaration does not automatically pave the way for publishing a newspaper. Publication can be started only after the said Magistrate authenticates the declaration.
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