PLR In Ireland

ireland

The final stages of the Copyright Bill implementing PLR in Ireland were passed by the Irish parliament on 28 November 2007. The legislation provides a legal framework for a PLR scheme to pay authors whose books are lent out by public libraries. Responsibility for setting up and administering a PLR system in Ireland has been given to the Library Council in Dublin.

The Library Council contracted with the UK PLR office to develop a PLR system based on the UK model. System design and development proceeded during 2009 and the new system was up and running in December 2009. Payments to Irish authors were made in December 2009 and payments to authors outside Ireland were due to made in February 2010.

The new Irish system operates in a similar way to the UK system. Payment is based on loans of printed books from public libraries across Ireland. Loans are divided into available funding to provide an annual Rate Per Loan. Authors must register with the PLR office to qualify for payment. PLR is open to authors living in European Economic Area countries and to Irish nationals regardless of where they live.

Fuller details of the system and how to apply can be found on the Irish PLR website at www.plr.ie.

(updated february 2010)