EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order brings into force on 1st July 2018 variations to the Scheme made by the Secretary of State.
The Public Lending Right Act 1979 (the “1979 Act”) confers a right for authors (known as the public lending right) to receive payments out of a central fund, based on the number of times their books are lent out by public libraries in the United Kingdom. The public lending right is administered in accordance with the Scheme.
The Scheme is being varied primarily as a result of the extension of the public lending right to include remote loans of e-books and audio-books from public libraries, which came into force in England and Wales and Scotland on 30th June 2018. Other variations have been made to the Scheme to ensure that it continues to operate effectively. The Appendix to the Order sets out the variations to the Scheme.
In article 36 of the Scheme, the definitions of “loans” and “service points” are amended to reflect the extension of the public lending right to remote lending of e-books and audio-books, following amendments to the definition of “lent out” in the 1979 Act (made by section 31 of the Digital Economy Act 2017). Article 42(3)(b) is varied to restrict the operation of this provision to loans of physical books and audio-books. Regulation 2 of the Order brings these variations into force for England and Wales and Scotland only.
Article 14A of and paragraph 5 of Schedule 1 to the Scheme are varied to remove a requirement that a new application (including a posthumous application) must be accompanied by a certificate signed by an independent witness who is not related to the applicant and has known the applicant for at least two years, as there are other sufficient verification checks that form part of the application process.
A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument, as no, or no significant, impact on the private, voluntary or public sectors is foreseen.