Novel luminescent Ln(III)-chelated complexes based on dansyl-N-methyl-aminobenzoic acid exhibited the strong near IR emission bands of the characteristic I-4(13/2) -> I-4(15/2) transition of Er(III) ion around 1530 nm and the characteristic F-4(3/2) -> F-4(9/2), F-4(3/2) -> F-4(11/2) and F-4(3/2) -> F-4(13/2) transitions of Nd(III) ion around 880, 1060 and 1330 nm. Their photoluminescence intensity depends on the degree of the spectral overlap between the emission band of the ligand and the absorption band of lanthanide(III) ion. The radiative life times of Er(III) and Nd(III) ions in the lanthanide(III) complex films were estimated to be 1.6 and 1.2 mu s, respectively.