Publishers of printed and recorded music in Germany are required by law (since 1973) to deliver two copies of every edition as legal deposits to the archive.

[2] The DMA constitutes a department of the German National Library, Leipzig (Deutsche Nationalbibliothek).

[5][6] In July 2000, the DMA also assumed the role as repository for GEMA, Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte, a German music copyright organization.

Since then, music publishers only have to submit copies to DMA, which covers both national archiving and copyright registration.

A common authority file is created with personal names, corporate bodies and work titles of the music, which can be made available for research purposes and as a cataloging tool.