Public Lending Right Act 1979
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| Public Lending Right Act 1979 | |
|---|---|
| Name | Public Lending Right Act 1979 |
| Enactment | 1979 |
| Jurisdiction | United Kingdom |
| Long title | An Act to provide for payments to authors in respect of the public lending of their books and for connected purposes |
| Status | amended |
Public Lending Right Act 1979
The Public Lending Right Act 1979 established a statutory scheme to remunerate authors for the loan of their books from public libraries across the United Kingdom. It created an administrative framework to register entitled creators, measure lending activity, and distribute payments, addressing tensions between cultural access and authors' earnings observed during debates involving groups such as the Writers' Guild of Great Britain, the Society of Authors, the National Union of Journalists, and parliamentary advocates including members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Act intersects with policy discussions involving institutions like the British Library, the Local Government Association, and literary awards such as the Booker Prize and the Costa Book Awards insofar as it affects authors' livelihoods.
Background and Legislative Context
The Act emerged from mid-20th-century campaigns by stakeholders including the Society of Authors, the Writers' Guild of Great Britain, and individual writers such as Doris Lessing and Kingsley Amis, who argued that public lending deprived creators of income derived from sales. Parliamentary inquiries and reports from bodies like the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and select committees in the House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport informed the legislative design. Debates referenced comparative schemes such as Norway's lending right, the Swedish Authors' Society model, and precedents in countries like Canada and Australia. Key advocates in Parliament included MPs associated with constituencies where public libraries were politically salient, and the measure was debated against the background of broader cultural policy issues involving institutions like the Arts Council England and the National Health Service funding debates.
Provisions and Scope
The Act set out entitlement to payments for authors, illustrators, and certain other contributors when qualifying works are publicly lent by specified library authorities, including local authority libraries and certain national libraries such as the British Library. It defined eligible works, excluded certain categories, and specified that payments would be made per author rather than per title in many cases. The statutory wording engaged statutory instruments and regulations, with implementation influenced by provisions in related legislation affecting intellectual property, including statutes referenced by stakeholders such as the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and earlier copyright measures debated in the House of Lords Constitution Committee.
Administration and Implementation
Administration was assigned to a designated entity established under the Act and operated in collaboration with professional bodies including the Society of Authors, the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society, and the Writers' Guild of Great Britain. The scheme required data collection from local library authorities across regions such as Greater London, West Midlands, Greater Manchester, and devolved administrations including Scotland and Wales. Implementation relied on periodic surveys, registration systems for creators, and coordination with library management bodies like the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. Oversight involved Ministers in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and parliamentary reporting to select committees.
Eligibility and Payment Mechanisms
Eligibility criteria specified authorship, residency, and the status of works; applicants typically had to register titles with the administering body and meet qualifying thresholds. Payment mechanisms combined a per-title or per-author allowance informed by sample lending surveys conducted across local authorities and statistical methods akin to those used by organizations such as the Office for National Statistics for sampling frames. Payments were funded through allocations approved in parliamentary estimates and settlements influenced by annual dialogues involving publisher organizations such as the Publishing Association and collective management organizations including the Copyright Licensing Agency.
Impact and Reception
Responses to the Act spanned literary, political, and institutional actors: authors' organizations such as the Society of Authors hailed the measure as recognition of creators' rights, while some library associations including the Library Association (now part of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) expressed concerns about administrative burdens and potential effects on lending policy. Economists and commentators referenced comparisons with neighbouring schemes in Ireland, Denmark, and Germany to evaluate distributional effects. High-profile recipients included novelists and non-fiction authors recognized by awards like the Man Booker Prize and the Costa Book Awards, which helped publicize annual payment rounds.
Amendments and Legislative History
Since 1979 the Act has been amended through secondary legislation and periodic updates to eligibility and payment procedures. Amendments responded to technological change, debates over electronic lending involving devices and services offered by companies such as Amazon and initiatives in digital libraries like the OverDrive platform, and to statutory reforms in copyright law including the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Parliamentary debates in both Houses, including contributions from MPs with literary and cultural portfolios, produced regulatory adjustments and periodic reviews reported to committees such as the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
Comparative and International Perspectives
The UK scheme is often discussed alongside models in countries such as Norway, Sweden, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, each of which balances public access and creators' remuneration differently. Comparative analyses reference administrative bodies like the Norwegian Authors' Union, the Swedish Authors' Society, and collective management entities in Canada to draw lessons on sampling methodology, digital lending inclusion, and cross-border rights. International dialogues occur in fora involving organizations such as the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and the International Authors Forum, informing ongoing policy evolution amid shifts in publishing technology and cross-jurisdictional copyright regimes.