Are You Paid For Library Loans?
By: Penny Grubb
Tags: Secondary Rights, Libraries, Reading, Public Lending Right, Writing

Are You Paid For Library Loans Of Your Books?

Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay

Although it would be an exaggeration for any author to suggest that every library loan robs them of a sale, the argument that libraries boost book sales has equally insecure foundations. As with so many aspects of the publishing world (and indeed of the world in general), there will always be a small number who gain a disproportionate advantage — the celebrity gets the big book deal, libraries put more resources into promoting authors who are already well known — the rich get richer, the unknowns continue to struggle.

The majority of the world has long recognized an author’s right to be compensated for use of their work, and many countries now recognize that library loans should be included in this right. However, it took a long and hard campaign for Public Lending Right (PLR) to become a reality. British authors campaigned for 30 years before PLR was enshrined in law in 1979.

Many of those who came out in support of the general principle that authors should be compensated for the use of their work, spoke out against compensation for library lending, fearful it would lead to funds being sucked out of the library system, but authors never campaigned for that. The counterargument that PLR would benefit the general economy was a compelling plank in the campaign in the UK, and the PLR system set up was rightly separate from the public library system both in administration and funding.

PLR in the UK is defined as the right that authors have to be paid by the government for the use of their work through the nation’s public libraries. An annual PLR fund is divided by the number of library loans to provide a rate per book — between 8p and 9p in 2020 — and capped (currently at £6,600).

The UK Public Lending Right Act of 1979 proved restrictive as publishing moved into the digital age, and was the basis of further campaigns on behalf of authors in discussions on the Digital Economy Act of 2017. Despite the growing popularity of ebooks in libraries, they were not included in PLR until 2018.

Another change at this time was the disbanding of the UK’s PLR office, with its functions moved to the British Library. It was argued in the 2010s, as in the 1970s, that the library system was not the appropriate place for PLR; the clear but inaccurate perception that authors’ compensation was being paid at the expense of library budgets, could more easily become a reality given the merging of the administrative functions, as future governments — never overly concerned with writers’ rights — sought ways to save money.

The position of Registrar of PLR was abolished at the same time, losing what had been an important degree of independence. Jim Parker, the Registrar of PLR prior to the dissolution of the role, and now Coordinator for the PLR International Network, said:

PLR is a right you have to apply for. It’s not like copyright, which is instant and automatic. As a writer you have to prove your eligibility. So it’s important […] to have some legal independence from government.

A more appropriate place to administer PLR would be the worldwide network of Collecting Societies which already administer a multitude of secondary rights income for authors, including PLR in other countries.

How To Collect The Money You Are Owed For Library Lending

If you are a UK author, you should register all your works in all editions with the PLR office.

Outside the UK, you should register with your local Collecting Society, which you can find via the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations.

UK authors should also register all their works, in all editions, with the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society, as this is the society that collects their non-UK PLR.

The current PLR system has its drawbacks but it is what it is, and writing is not a lucrative profession, so authors should work with it to make sure they are paid what is due to them.