Government seeks community feedback on PLR, ELR schemes

8 October 2012 Books+Publishing

The Federal Government’s Office of the Arts is seeking community feedback about the Public Lending Rights (PLR) and Education Lending Rights (ELR) schemes through an online survey.

Interested parties have until 23 October to complete the survey, which can be accessed from the Office of the Arts website here. The survey is part of the government’s process to modernise the schemes, as announced in August.

The office said that it is looking for ‘views on the purpose of the schemes, the rules about who receives payments for what, and … suggestions on how we could improve the way the schemes are run’. It said that it is interested in feedback from scheme claimants, people who are, or would like to be, involved in creating and publishing books, librarians, and people who are interested in Australian books.

As previously reported by Bookseller+Publisher, the government said in August that work had begun on ‘a comprehensive assessment of the schemes’ as part of the first stage of the modernisation process. The assessment process is expected to continue throughout the remainder of 2012, with changes to the schemes likely to be introduced in 2013.

The assessment will look at: the scope and eligibility criteria of the schemes, including the possible introduction of ebooks; the methodology for determining payments; the level of payments; the schemes’ governance framework and administration; and whether the objectives of the schemes remain relevant and are fulfilled by the current arrangements.

The government indicated its support for changes to the schemes in June in its formal response to the recommendations made by the Book Industry Strategy Group (BISG). The BISG recommended that Australian publishers ‘work to clarify the business model for the use of ebooks in libraries’ and that ‘following that, the government establish a framework and guidelines for how ebooks may become part of the ELR/PLR’.

For more information or to access the survey, visit the Office of the Arts website here.

Category: Local news