8 October 2021

Ahead of PLR’s 40^th anniversary we urge the UK Government to increase the fund for the first time since 2015.

On 27 October, the Treasury will announce the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review, introducing a raft of measures designed to steer the economy on from the impact of the health crisis.

As we approach the 40^th anniversary of the Public Lending Right (PLR) we join the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) call for a substantial increase in the fund, which has been frozen at £6 million for six years.

For four decades, PLR has provided authors with remuneration for the use of their work in public libraries. It is designed to ensure that creators are rewarded for their contributions to a culture freely available to all, yet its current level is less than half the £13 million fund enjoyed by authors in France. With the continued drop in author incomes, and as many writers, illustrators and translators try to recover from losses caused by the pandemic, an increase to this vital revenue stream is long overdue.

Write to your MP

What can really make a difference is for the people who represent you in government to understand the importance of PLR to you. The more authors they hear from, the more they are likely to understand the importance of your work and how you deserve to be rewarded.

• If you are a member of ALCS, you can visit their lobbying portal and use their template letter to write to your MP. Read more
• If you are not an ALCS member, you can search for your MP and send your message via writetothem.com. We recommend you adapt this sample letter (text courtesy of ALCS).

When you receive a response from your MP, please share it with us if you can – publicaffairs@societyofauthors.org.