The Society of Authors has written to express its concerns about Public Lending Right (PLR) to Dominic Lake, Deputy Director of Arts, Libraries & Cultural Property, Department for Culture, Media and Sport. PLR is the right for authors and illustrators to receive a small sum each time a book is lent out from a library.

On 9 November it was proposed that the rate per loan for PLR be raised from 6.66 pence to 7.67 pence per loan. While this increase is welcomed SoA has several areas of concern which they urge the Government to address. They are arguing for:

Safeguarding and proper administration of PLR

Extension of PLR to all volunteer-run libraries

Remuneration of authors for all types of loans on all types of books

Nicola Solomon, Chief Executive of the Society of Authors (SoA) said: “We are sad to note the decrease in the estimate loans of books registered for PLR, caused, no doubt, by the cuts in library services and the exclusion of some volunteer-run libraries from the scheme. We urge the Government to include volunteer-run libraries within the PLR scheme so that true figures for library lending can be recorded and remunerated.”

She continued: “We understand that the government is considering plans to bring in PLR payments for remote e-lending. Libraries now remotely lend a significant number of e-books and it is only fair that authors should be remunerated for these. Publishers have been reluctant to ensure that authors receive a fair share of licensing revenues for remote lending.”

Full story from SoA here