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.
SELF-RELIANCE: Taiwan would struggle to receive aid in the event of an invasion, so it must prepare to ‘hold its own’ for the first 70 days of a war, a defense expert said Taiwan should strengthen infrastructure, stock up on reserves and step up efforts to encourage Taiwanese to fight against an enemy, legislators and experts said on Tuesday last week. The comments sought to summarize what the nation should learn from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has exceeded 300 days, since Feb. 24 last year. Institute of National Defense and Security Research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said that the war in Ukraine highlighted the importance of being ready for war. Taiwan’s development of an “asymmetrical warfare” doctrine and extending mandatory conscription to one year is a good start to preparation of defense against a
The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday said it would delay the lifting of the indoor mask mandate, citing public health considerations and ongoing discussions on how the policy should be implemented. Earlier this week, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said officials from several ministries were working on the policy and an announcement would be made yesterday. However, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, yesterday said that the policy was still under review. Wang said its implementation would be “delayed slightly” due to three main factors. First, the center
END OF SERIES: As the first generation of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are set to expire, the CECC would no longer offer them to children younger than four years old The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported the nation’s first case of a person infected with the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2. The Taiwanese man in his 20s arrived from Canada on Jan. 22, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), who is deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division. He tested positive after reporting having a runny nose and muscle soreness while in airport quarantine, Lo said. The XBB.1.5 subvariant is the dominant strain in the US, but there is no evidence to suggest that it causes more severe illness than other Omicron subvariants, he said,
NORMALIZING TIES: The delegation led by the KMT’s Johnny Chiang is to meet with British lawmakers, think tanks and business groups to discuss developments A legislative delegation led by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) arrived in the UK yesterday to rally support for Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Chiang heads the Legislative Yuan’s Taiwan-UK Interparliamentary Amity Association. The delegation also includes KMT legislators Ma Wen-chun (馬文君), Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞), Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), Sandy Yu (游毓蘭) and Wu I-ding (吳怡玎). The group is to meet with British lawmakers Alicia Kearns, who chairs the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee; Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the House Defence Select Committee; and Bob Stewart, who cochairs the