PLR in Czech Republic

CZECH REPUBLIC

A PLR Bill was adopted by the Czech Parliament on 5 May 2006 as an amendment to the Authors’ Rights Act incorporated into the Czech legislature as Act 216 of the 2006 Statutes, in force as of 1 June 2006, with DILIA (Theatre, Literary, and Audiovisual Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society) licensed to distribute the proceeds to the entitled authors.

The authors, however, are not entitled to remuneration for the lending of published works on public library premises, or for the lending of originals and copies of published works effected by school and libraries of institutions of higher learning, the National Library of the Czech Republic, the Moravian Land Library in Brno, the State Technical Library, the National Medical Library, the Comenius National Pedagogical Library, the Agricultural and Foodstuffs Information Institute Library, the National Film Archives Library and the Czech Republic Parliament Library. These are legally exempt.

Paid by the state through the National Library section of the budget of the Culture Ministry, DILIA distributed the first PLR remuneration in June 2008. The total sum was CZK 5,289,384 (EUR 211,575), while CZK 3,270,311 (EUR 130,812) went into a reserve fund. In 2009 authors received CZK 9,810,933 (EUR 392,437) while CZK 3,270,311 (EUR 130,812) went into the reserve fund. The payments are subject to VAT at 19% which DILIA is challenging.

The payments do not reflect actual book borrowing as loans data is not yet available. DILIA is in discussion with the National Library with a view to creating a statistical database and a switch to a system using actual loans data. For the present payments are based on a Shares Scheme devised by DILIA.

According to the law, it is only loans of books taken out of library premises that are eligible for payment under the PLR scheme and the payments go to eligible authors, translators, illustrators and photographers and heirs thereof. Editors/compilers do not receive any remuneration.

(updated january 2010)