UK Government Extends Public Lending Right to Ebooks and Audiobooks Loaned by Public Libraries

From the UK Dept. for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

From July 1, the Public Lending Right Scheme will cover ebooks and e-audiobooks that are loaned from public libraries across Great Britain. The change means that authors are eligible for payment in the same way if their works are borrowed electronically or as physical books.
E-lending in public libraries has risen dramatically in the past six years. Last year more than 6,750,000 works were borrowed electronically, compared to just 750,000 in 2011/12.
The UK is one of the first countries to extend its library lending compensation scheme to remote e-lending.
[Clip]
The Public Lending Right scheme is managed by the British Library on behalf of the Government, with more than £6 million of payments made to 22,000 authors, illustrators, photographers, translators and rights holders each year.

Read the Complete Announcement
See Also: Government Response to Consultation on Technical Amendments to the Public Lending Right Scheme

Filed under: Libraries, News, Public Libraries