Registration opened yesterday for authors and publishers to receive payments as part of a trial public lending rights program launched last year at two public libraries.
The three-year pilot program, organized by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture, allows Taiwanese authors, creators, publishers and registered non-governmental organizations to be compensated NT$3 each time one of their books is loaned at Taichung’s National Library of Public Information or New Taipei City’s National Taiwan Library, the Department of Lifelong Education said in a statement.
The program is designed to “fulfill the core values of public libraries and encourage cultural creativity,” it said.
The scheme was first publicized by then-minister of culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) on Dec. 31, 2019, who said it represented the nation’s respect and appreciation for creators and publishers.
The books can be written in Chinese or any other language, and must be physical editions that were published in Taiwan, with an International Standard Book Number, the department said.
Creators would receive 70 percent of the remuneration, while publishers would receive 30 percent, it said.
Each year, the libraries would publish data on the number of times books were borrowed in the previous year, while those eligible for the program should register online for their payment, it said.
Registration is open to publishers until March 31, while creators can register from April 1 to April 30, it said.
More than 110,000 titles across the two libraries are included in the program, the department said, adding that last year, the books were checked out more than 790,000 times.
Payments for last year’s loans are to start in May, it said.
An online registration platform (plr.nlpi.edu.tw) created by the National Library of Public Information was launched on Oct. 19 last year, the department said.
Since October, the program has held seven meetings to teach authors and publishers how to use the system, it said, adding that it would host 12 more sessions across the nation throughout the registration period.
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