Consultation outcome

Consultation on technical amendments to the Public Lending Right Scheme: 2023

From:: Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Published: 28 June 2023
Last updated: 6 October 2023 — See all updates

Read the full outcome

Government response to a consultation on the Public Lending Right Changes 2023

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Detail of outcome

A public consultation ran from 28 June to 6 August 2023 on proposals to amend the PLR Scheme to help improve the administration. The two proposals were: to amend the Scheme so that it is less prescriptive regarding designation of sampling points, enabling the British Library to increase the sample size with the option to move to collecting comprehensive loans data from all library authorities in the UK; and to remove the requirement, in certain circumstances, for an application for registration of a posthumously eligible book to be made by the deceased author’s personal representatives.

This document provides a summary of the responses to the core questions, as well as the conclusions of the impact questions survey.

Detail of feedback received

A total of 106 online responses were started, of which 79 were fully submitted. Overall, the vast majority of those that responded to the proposal to change the sampling requirements agreed with the change, while a significant majority that responded to the proposal related to the application for posthumous registration agreed with the change.

Original consultation

Consultation description

The Public Lending Right (PLR) is the right for eligible authors, illustrators, narrators and other book contributors to receive payment for the loans of their books by public libraries in the UK. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has been engaging with the British Library, which manages the PLR Scheme, about changes that would help to improve the administration of the Scheme, and intends to make some technical amendments to the Scheme’s provisions to implement these changes.

This consultation therefore seeks views on proposed amendments to the PLR Scheme in order to:

amend the Scheme so that it is less prescriptive regarding designation of sampling points, enabling the British Library to increase the sample size with the option to move to collecting comprehensive loans data from all library authorities in the UK, and
remove the requirement, in certain circumstances, for an application

for registration of a posthumously eligible book to be made by the deceased author’s personal representatives. This means a person registering books for the first time after inheriting from a deceased author may not need to have a solicitor/executor involved in making the application, providing for a more efficient and less burdensome administration process.

We strongly encourage responses via the online survey. Using the online survey greatly assists our analysis of the responses, enabling more efficient and effective consideration of the issues raised for each question.

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