Canadian Authors - Make sure you register with CCA for PLR!

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Not sure if this is the right place to post, but...

Last year I finally got organized and made my application to the Canada Council for the Arts Public Lending Rights Program - the system for paying Canadian authors for the books they have in Canadian libraries.

It was a bit of a nuisance to register, but not much - probably took me about an hour, maybe two. Lots of photocopies.

I thought I'd get $10 or something, if I was lucky - but I just got a cheque for $1 710.20! For books I already got royalties on when they were originally sold!

The paperwork shows that they have 7 "test' libraries - as I understand it they keep the actual libraries secret so people don't try to game the system. And then I got a report showing "Times title found out of 7", and for each time a title was found in one of the test libraries, I get $50.30 (at least for books registered between 2012 and 2016 - might be a different rate for older books?). So my two Penguin novels were in all seven libraries and I got $352.10 for each of them. Lovely - I'd expected those ones to be in libraries, maybe, but I hadn't realized the payout would be so high per book! And I have a novel from Riptide that was in 5 libraries, a novel from Dreamspinner that was in 3 libraries, and a lot of other novels from Dreamspinner that were in one library out of the seven. So I get $50.30 for each of those novels, AND if they're still there next year I'll get paid for them again!

Definitely worth the trouble for Canadian authors - it's essentially found money, right?

So, do the paperwork, Canadians! You can find it at http://www.plr-dpp.ca/PLR/registration/new_registrants.aspx

Now I'm off to decide how to spend my windfall!
 
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Yes it's wonderful that in Canada (and the UK) we get financially reimbursed for books in libraries. I have never understood why they don't do the same in the States.

Just for the record, the short form used is PLR (public lending rights) not CCA. I say that not to be pedantic but just because if other authors are trying to look up the acronym they'll have more luck with that one.

Also are you aware of Access Copyright: https://www.accesscopyright.ca/ ? Unfortunately several laws have been passed recently that have greatly reduced the amount we authors get, but it's still worth signing up with them as well :) .
 
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What kind of money do you get from Access Copyright? Like, compared to the amount you get from the library program?
 

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And I don't really understand the Access Copyright "samples" idea, at least re. self-published books...

For a book from a publisher I send in a copy of the cover and the title page; but for self-published books, what would I send?

And is it just the author's citizenship that matters for this? It doesn't matter if my books are published in the US?
 

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I'm afraid I can't help with the self-published questions. They do provide contact info if you have any questions, doesn't hurt to drop them a line :) .

And it used to be comparable to PLR but now it's less than half of what it used to be. Still I mean, it's better than no money. And it's not like you have to pay into it or anything. So it's really win-win.
 
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I'm afraid I can't help with the self-published questions. They do provide contact info if you have any questions, doesn't hurt to drop them a line :) .

And it used to be comparable to PLR but now it's less than half of what it used to be. Still I mean, it's better than no money. And it's not like you have to pay into it or anything. So it's really win-win.

It seems like I'd register as an author, rather than registering each individual book - does that sound right?

And then... I really doubt anyone's photocopying any of my work for academic purposes, so I wouldn't get any of the title-specific funds, but I'd get some of the general funds? Am I on the right track?
 

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Yes, register as an author. And it's similar to PLR in that it's not a literal calculation of your work specifically, but based on a more general equation, so it is worth doing.
 

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In order to do this, one has to be Canadian and have their books in libraries in Canada, right? (thanks - I'm in the US, but helping a friend with his books that lives in Canada, and the whole Canada thing is so new to me! :) )
 

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Wow, I had no idea this was even a thing in Canada. Sadly, I'm currently still on sub, my agent has yet to find my book a home. It's probably too much to hope for that this also counts for anthologies you've contributed to, I qualify for that in a couple of months.
 

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In order to do this, one has to be Canadian and have their books in libraries in Canada, right? (thanks - I'm in the US, but helping a friend with his books that lives in Canada, and the whole Canada thing is so new to me! :) )

Yes - the website is here:

http://www.plr-dpp.ca/PLR/

Please note that starting THIS year you can register ebooks! Before it was restricted to only paper books but now...

I'm quietly screaming in anticipation of my check.

Go! Register!
 

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Wow, I had no idea this was even a thing in Canada. Sadly, I'm currently still on sub, my agent has yet to find my book a home. It's probably too much to hope for that this also counts for anthologies you've contributed to, I qualify for that in a couple of months.

And yes, you are!

[h=4]You may be eligible for a PLR payment if you meet the following conditions:[/h]
You are:


  • an author or co-author;
  • an illustrator or photographer;
  • a translator;
  • an anthology contributor;
  • an editor with an original written contribution
 

MaeZe

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In order to do this, one has to be Canadian and have their books in libraries in Canada, right? (thanks - I'm in the US, but helping a friend with his books that lives in Canada, and the whole Canada thing is so new to me! :) )
Yes for the Canadian program, citizen or permanent resident.

From Wiki: Public Lending Right
A Public Lending Right (PLR) programme, is a programme intended to either compensate authors for the potential loss of sales from their works being available in public libraries, or as a governmental support of the arts, through support of works available in public libraries, such as books, music and artwork.

Twenty-eight countries have a PLR programme,[1] and others are considering adopting one. Canada, the United Kingdom, all the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Israel, Australia, and New Zealand currently have PLR programmes. There is ongoing debate in France about implementing one. There is also a move towards having a Europe-wide PLR programme administered by the European Union.
 

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Sadly, I don't qualify for this. At least not yet. I only have a contribution in an anthology, but according to the regulations, you only qualify if the anthology has six or fewer contributors. The one I'm in has a dozen, so that pushes me out. Oh well, I'm still on submission with a novel with my agent, so maybe next year.
 
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