24 April 2015
After a tireless campaign by the Society of Authors, PLR UK, the Association of Illustrators, the Association of Photographers and SoA member Nicola Smee, artists and estates in the UK will receive over £240,000 from DACS. The money is for the lending of books featuring their artwork by libraries in The Netherlands.
Illustrator and SoA member Nicola Smee reacts to the news.
The royalties come from Dutch Public Lending Right. If you are an artist, or representing an estate, and successfully applied for royalties then you will be included in the payouts.
In The Netherlands, public libraries pay a royalty to the Lending Right Foundation for books that they lend out. The Dutch sister society of DACS, Pictoright, distributes a share of these royalties to visual artists who are eligible for the scheme. DACS has received a share of these royalties from Pictoright to distribute to all types of eligible UK visual artists – including fine artists, illustrators and photographers.
£240,512 in royalties will be distributed to a total of 323 artists and estates, with individual payments ranging from £100 to over £4,500.
Applications are now closed for 2014 payments but will re-open for 2015 payments in the summer.
The SoA will continue to campaign on behalf of all authors to ensure a fair source of income from public lending.