PA argues against PLR transfer

The Publishers Association has argued that there is no need to transfer the administration of the Public Lending Right (PLR) away from the Registrar of Public Lending Right, as the consultation over its future nears its end.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport launched its consultation on plans to transfer the administration of PLR away from the existing body on 10th May this year, and the process is due to end next Monday, on 30th July.

PA c.e.o. Richard Mollet said in a statement: "We stand by the arguments put forward by the Society of Authors and the Authors Licensing and Collecting Society that the current administration of PLR is fit for purpose.

"We encourage the government to spend its efforts on extending PLR to e-books and audiobooks rather than interfering with an existing efficient system. Making further changes to the library service, at a time when issues such as payment of PLR by volunteer libraries and remote lending remain unclear, can only cause further uncertainty."

This follows biographer Michael Holroyd's response to the consultation, in which he accused the DCMS of using a "devious and misleading" argument to justify the abolition of the long-established PLR agency, headed by Jim Parker in Stockton-on-Tees.

Proposed bodies which may take on the PLR include the British Library, which is the government's preferred option, as well as Arts Council England, the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society or the DCMS itself.