Two public libraries are starting a public lending rights trial today, the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture announced at a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
The three-year pilot program, designed jointly by the ministries, allows Taiwanese authors and publishers 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 Ministry of Education said.
The author would receive 70 percent of the compensation, while the publisher would receive 30 percent, it said, adding that payments would begin in May next year.
Photo: Chen Yu-hsun, Taipei Times
Books by deceased authors are not included in the program, the ministries said.
Compensation for books with more than one author would be shared equally among the authors, they added.
Denmark, the first country to implement a public lending rights program, began its program in 1946, the Ministry of Education said, adding that 35 countries, mostly in Europe, had launched similar schemes as of last year.
Non-European countries that have adopted programs include New Zealand, Australia and Canada, it said.
“Taiwan is the first in East Asia to push for public lending rights,” Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said.
Although the program is a pilot, its introduction represents the respect that the government has for writers and publishers, she said, calling the trial an “important step.”
The program would not reduce the libraries’ funds for purchasing new materials, she said.
Writer Liao Yu-hui (廖玉蕙) said that she believes the program would be a “huge encouragement,” especially for young writers.
In 2018, about 92 million people visited the nation’s 544 public libraries, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) said, adding that about 77 million books were checked out that year.
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