Photo: Author
If you know all about the Public Lending Right (PLR) program in Canada, you probably don’t need this reminder. However, if you don’t and are a Canadian (citizen or resident) writer, editor, translator, photographer, illustrator, or narrator who has published a printed, audio or e-book with an ISBN number in the last five years, you may qualify for a PLR payment—but only if you register by May 1. The PLR program, run by the PLR Commission in association with the Canada Council, has been in operation in Canada since 1986. It distributes annually approximately $15 million to qualified authors registered with the program, based on a sampling of major libraries across the country to determine whether registered works are present in library holdings. Payments are based on library holdings, not the number of times a work is loaned out, despite the name “lending right”. This year, payments were made to 18,247 authors of the 20,091 who have registered. The maximum payout to an author was $4,500. Minimum payment is $50. The average payment was $806 and the median (half above; half below) was $399.91. Once a book is registered and confirmed to be in the library inventory, payments can continue for up to 25 years.
Not all genres are eligible. While the program covers fiction, poetry, drama, children’s literature, non-fiction and scholarly works, “practical” books such as cookbooks, self-help, “how-to” guides, travel guides, manuals, reference works, educational books like textbooks or books resulting from a conference, seminar or symposium, and periodicals, are not eligible. Full eligibility criteria for registration can be found here. Registration is a bit old-school and not that simple. A form needs to be downloaded and completed by hand. Various codes have to be added to the form (there is a guide). Photocopies have to be made of the work’s title page, copyright page, and table of contents. For audiobooks similar information must be provided, such as a photocopy of the audiobook box cover. Next, this all has to be packaged up and mailed through Canada Post. Registered mail is advised. Applications are then assessed, compared against an electronic database of library holdings and cheques prepared for mail out by February of next year. (A recent innovation is an option for electronic deposit). All this is accomplished by a dedicated staff of just 4 people!
About 800 authors a year apply for the program. In a sense, this is a problem because funding has not been increased for around two decades. (While new authors are added, there is some natural attrition as the estates of deceased authors do not receive payments, plus there is a drop off as older works age out). But the end result is a net increase, with the same amount of funding being spread over an ever-increasing base. Not only that, with inflation over the years the value of payments has actually declined by almost 50%. The Trudeau government made a pledge to increase the PLR back in 2021 but so far has taken no action. The Writers Union of Canada has advocated for a doubling of annual funding from $15 to $30 million (it was just $3 million when first launched in 1986). A coalition of Canadian publishing and authors organizations has just sent a public letter to the Minister for Canadian Heritage and the Finance Minister prior to the release of the 2024 budget on April 16 urging that commitments to increase funding be fulfilled.
The formula for payments to authors is somewhat complicated. It is explained on the PLR website as follows:
“Payment per title = Hit rate × # libraries where title is found × % share × time adjustment”
The hit rate varies but last year was $61.53. That is multiplied by the number of libraries where the title was found. If the author claims full title there is no percentage share adjustment but where a work has more than one author claiming a share of title (e.g. a writer as well as an illustrator), there is an adjustment related to the amount of contribution each made to the creation of the work. The time adjustment is related to when the work is published. Older works are subject to a discount. Got it? The best way to find out what you might earn is to register, assuming your work qualifies. If you get a cheque in 2025 you will have some idea of your contribution to the literary base of Canadian libraries.
Canada is now one of more than 30 countries that has a PLR. (The US does not). The first PLR program goes back to 1946 in Denmark, followed by Norway and Sweden although the idea originated in 1919 with the Nordic Authors’ Association passing a resolution calling on governments to compensate authors for library lending of their books. The World Intellectual Property Association (WIPO) defines the PLR as “the legal right that allows authors and other right holders to receive payment from government to compensate for the free loan of their books by public and other libraries.” In Europe, the PLR is actually underpinned by copyright legislation in the form of the Rental and Lending Right Directive (Directive 2006/115/EC) that provides authors with an exclusive right over the lending out of their works, or remuneration for the lending of such works. PLR in non-EU countries, such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel is not dependent on a legal right but is in fact a form of government subsidy to authors. In some countries payment is based on how often works are loaned, in others, such as Canada, it is based on library holdings.
In most countries, including Canada, libraries do not pay for the PLR, and it does not affect their budgets. Instead, funding comes from central government sources. You would think, therefore, that being part of the writer/publisher/reader ecosystem, libraries would be enthusiastic supporters of such payments to authors as it encourages them to create more works, enlarging the base of books available to users of libraries. That, however, is usually not the case. Libraries generally don’t support, or give very lukewarm support, to the PLR for fear that funding for it might come out of their hide, as in the Netherlands. (WIPO tactfully says that “In the few cases where libraries pay for PLR, such as in The Netherlands where public libraries operate as independent entities, PLR is viewed by the library community as a legitimate charge that fairly compensates authors for the use of their works free of charge by the public”). That is a very rosy interpretation of the position of most library associations. Not only is there concern that somehow funding for authors will mean less money for libraries, but there is ideological opposition from library associations too.
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), in its policy statement on PLR, states that “IFLA does not favour the principles of ‘lending right’, which can jeopardize free access to the services of publicly accessible libraries, which is the citizen’s human right…” It goes on to say that “the justification usually given for PLR – that the use of copyright works through public libraries detracts from primary sales – is unproven”, arguing that lending by libraries often assists in the marketing of copyright works. (equally unproven, I would say). The Canadian Library Association has published opinion pieces echoing IFLA’s position, although its official position is that it supports payments to Canadian writers and endorses the use of library data to implement the PLR. There are caveats, however, such as opposition to any legal entitlement to PLR payments for writers plus assertions that library lending is of financial benefit to authors even without any PLR payments.
Despite reluctant library endorsement, PLR continues to grow globally. It now exists in 34 countries, with another 27 having it under consideration. As a result, in 2019 IFLA nuanced its outright opposition. For countries where there is not yet a PLR, members are urged to continue to oppose it. In particular IFLA opposes establishment of a PLR in developing countries (I guess writers in those countries don’t deserve support). If institution of a PLR appears inevitable, IFLA’s position is that national library associations must insist it not be funded from library budgets and that the administrative burdens on libraries be minimized.
PLR International, an advocate for expanding the PLR that holds an international conference every few years (the last one was in Brussels in September of last year), has addressed the IFLA position head on. It clearly states in its Charter of Best Practices that “PLR systems should be funded directly by central and/or regional government and should NOT be funded from library budgets.” Canada’s PLR Commission has “Celebrating Libraries” as one of its three fundamental pillars, the others being “Supporting Authors” and “Enriching Readers”, no doubt in acknowledgement of the generally tepid position of library associations on the PLR. (Interestingly, in the UK, the PLR system is run by the British Library).
The sometimes surprising misalignment between authors and library interests relates not just to the PLR, as I wrote a few years ago (“Are Libraries the Enemy of Authors and Publishers?”). I concluded they were not, although more recently the position that some in the library sector have taken on Controlled Digital Lending and collective licensing (“Chided by the Canadian Federation of Library Associations for Defending Authors: What an Honour!) for educational publishers makes me wonder.
But whether Canadian libraries are enthusiastic or lukewarm supporters of the PLR, it exists and has been in existence in Canada for almost 40 years, albeit without any legislative foundation. Although payments are relatively trivial, they are nonetheless a welcome supplement to the income of many writers and are a mark of recognition and partnership between libraries and authors, even though it seems some librarians are reluctant to see it that way. Published authors out there who have not registered should do so, if only to demonstrate to the government the wide base of creativity in Canada and to encourage a topping up of the PLR fund. You have two weeks left. Deadline is May 1. Don’t miss out.
© Hugh Stephens, 2024. All Rights Reserved.
