Untitled Document

canada

For 23 years, the PLR Commission has administered a programme which results in annual payments to authors in recognition of the presence of their books in public libraries.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, authors were successful in convincing the federal government of the case for the creation of a PLR programme. With the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, a committee of writers, publishers and librarians created the PLR programme in 1986. These associations were subsequently entrusted by the government with the programme’s administration.

This partnership of government, authors, publishers and librarians continues to yield excellent results. The PLR programme is run efficiently and effectively. It directly responds to the concerns of its stakeholders. More importantly, it continues to work alongside the Canada Council for the Arts in making an important contribution to sustaining the creation of literature of Canada, to the benefit of all Canadians.

Books – and writers – contribute in a major way to enhancing the creativity of Canadians and to the advancement of Canada as a knowledge-based society. PLR is seen as essential to ensuring Canadian writers, publishers and libraries continue to contribute the knowledge needed to face an increasingly complex world.

The PLR is also part of Canada’s established eco-system of funding for Canadian writers - the infrastructure successive governments have created to support Canadian literature. Various kinds of support enable writers to create work while the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Canada Council for the Arts’ publishing programmes support the publication of their work. Publishers pay royalties to authors for the sale of their work and PLR pays rights to the authors for the loan of their books from public libraries. PLR payments provide clear evidence that Canadians, through their government, recognize the value of Canadian writers and their work.

In addition, the PLR is the only program in Canada which addresses the cultural policy objective as written in the status of the artist legislation:

2 (e) the importance to artists that they be compensated for the use of their work, including the public lending of them.

The PLR cheques issued every February to over 15, 000 writers across Canada represent payment for the use of books held in Canadian libraries. The PLR ensures that authors are compensated for the access Canadians enjoy to Canadian literature.

In 2008-2009, the PLR distributed $9,901,023.60 in payments to 16,514 authors across Canada. They received an average payment of $600.

Payments are welcomed by authors. Feedback from previous payment distributions has included: “it’s nice to be appreciated”, “thanks for your work on behalf of Canadian authors”, “anything we can do to encourage Canadians to keep telling our story is worthwhile”, “this is a splendid day for a writer – we have been acknowledged” and, most importantly, “my income is always less than the poverty line, so the cheque makes a big difference to my life”, and “this payment means a great deal to me as the costs associated with researching and writing far exceed any royalties received to date, or any likely to come.”

That said, the PLR program is facing a significant challenge. Each year, approximately 4,000 new books are registered, requiring additional financial resources. Unfortunately, the budget for author payments has not grown at the same rate. In June 2008 the PLR Commission voted unanimously to adopt a Growth Management Strategy which will be introduced in 2010. This will provide for different rates of payment to apply to authors based on how long they have been registered for PLR with priority being given to new authors.

Summary of results for April 2008 to March 2009

Number of newly registered authors: 750
Number of newly registered authors who received a payment: 673
Number of payments issued in February 2009: 16,514
Total amount issued in February 2009: $9,901,024
Number of eligible titles found in public libraries: 76,542

(updated JANUARY 2010)