May 15, 2017

The Authors Licensing and Collecting Society says that it has long been lobbying for the extension of PLR to the remote lending of e-books and audiobooks and new legislation has now received Royal Assent to make this a reality.

The Digital Economy Act 2017 complements the legislation passed in the Digital Economy Act 2010, which extended PLR to audiobooks and on-site loans of e-books. ALCS says that it welcomes this change that will finally enable authors to receive PLR payments for remote loans of their e-books.

The ALCS says that the Digital Economy Act 2017 now completes the picture to ensure authors will receive their PLR payments for books and audiobooks, e-books and e-audiobooks whether loaned in the library or remotely. With an increase in the number of loans of e-books to around 4 million this year this is not a moment too soon, the ALCS says.

PLR will now be updating its system for registering e-books. ALCS says that it hopes to publish guidance on this in early autumn.

PLR for e-books and audio books loaned remotely will apply to loans made after 1 July 2018. Payments are due to be paid in arrears in early 2020. The rate of payment remains the same as for physical loans and the overall cap will remain the same. To read the ALCS press release in full, click here.