The right of following sale insures a percentage of all subsequent sales go back to the artist. Another right recognized by the Berne Convention is the public lending right currently recognized by more than 19 countries around the world including Canada. PLRs assume the public benefits from libraries but authors suffer lost sales. Therefore, market failure exists justifying a public policy response. PLRs compensate authors from a special federal fund.
Payment is capped so no one author receives too much.
Payment is restricted to Canadians and goes directly to the creator and cannot be transferred to Proprietors. The exemption applies only to individuals, not to corporations. The result has been an influx of creative talent who pay sales and other taxes offsetting the tax expenditure to the public treasury. In addition, such talent enriches the cultural as well as economic life of the country. Boyd, J.H., Deregulating Book Imports , Regulation, Volume 14, Number 1, Cato Institute, Winter 1991.