--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "m23to53" <library.john@...> wrote:
>
> Here in the UK we have a scheme called Public Lending Right, through
> which authors, who have signed up to the scheme, get payments based
> on the loans of their books. Not great but handy sums.
> It is based on lending figures from a selection of libraries which
> are changed at frequent intervals, so can be a bit hit or miss for
> less popular authors who may not be bought by every library. Not sure
> if overseas authors are allowed to participate. If you want to know
> more, PLR's website is www.plr.uk.com/
This arrangement strikes me as fair. If copyrighted music yields money
when broadcast by stations and movies yield money when shown publicly,
I don't see why books that are made available to the public should be
any different. Right now, in the US, they are treated like public
sculpture... a freebie.
The argument that Constantine's Mad Russian makes is that each time
the book is borrowed he is losing royalties on a copy sold. I don't
know that there is a valid argument against this.
Best,
mrt
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