UK: Public Lending Right scheme extends to e-books

The changes to the UK’s Public Lending Right will be introduced in the Digital Economy Bill and will ensure that e-book authors will be compensated for library borrowing.

E-book lending in the UK has increased by 38% in the last year. Four million e-book loans and one million e-audiobook loans were made in the 12 months to April 2016.

In the UK the Public Lending Right scheme is managed by the British Library.  More than £6 million is paid out to over 20,000 authors and rights holders every year.

Source: www.gov.uk.