Report: “Australian Authors to Receive Compensation for E-Book Loans for First Time”

From The Sydney Morning Herald:

Authors, illustrators, and editors will be compensated for e-book and audiobook library borrowings for the first time, in a move by the federal government to bring lenders’ rights into the 21st century.

A $12.9 million expansion of the annual lending rights scheme over four years will be announced at Monday’s launch of the Albanese government’s national cultural policy.

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The move, set to take effect from July, comes after the Australia Council’s National Survey of Australian Book Authors found the average income for authors to be $18,200, falling well below the poverty line.

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Funding is currently apportioned based on an annual survey of physical books held by public libraries. In 2020-21 $22.7 million was paid out to 17,500 creatives and publishers. Until now, e-books and audiobooks had not been factored into payments.

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Filed under: Companies (Publishers/Vendors), Funding, Libraries, News, Public Libraries