The Ministry of Culture announced that public lending rights will be expanded to more than 500 libraries nationwide next year

The third phase of public lending rights will provide compensation of more than 21.82 million yuan, with more than 5,000 authors benefiting from it. The trial will be expanded to public libraries nationwide next year. (Provided by the Ministry of Culture)

[Reporter Ling Meixue/Report from Taipei] In order to support the development of the creative and publishing industries, the Ministry of Culture launched the "Public Lending Rights" pilot program in 2020. Initially, there were only two national-level public libraries; starting in 2025, the second phase of the pilot program will join the National Library in collaboration and expand to a total of 300 public libraries in 6 cities, and "translators" will be included in the scope of distribution. The Ministry of Culture announced today (24th) that starting from next year (2027), the scope will be expanded again to more than 500 public libraries across the country. It also called on publishers, authors or translators who have not yet registered to register as soon as possible.

The Ministry of Culture stated that according to statistics, the total compensation paid in the entire year (first and second periods) last year reached 32.63 million yuan, benefiting more than 200 publishing houses and 4,000 authors. The compensation in the first half of this year (the third phase) has reached 21.82 million yuan from January to June (disbursement has begun), and the recipients have been distributed to more than 300 publishing houses and 5,000 authors (an increase of about 20%). Both the amount of compensation and the number of beneficiaries have increased significantly.

The Ministry of Culture reminds that the second phase of the public lending rights trial is open to registration throughout the year. The fourth phase of compensation calculation period is from July to December this year, and the registration period is until February 15 next year. Publishers, authors or translators who have not yet registered can complete the registration as soon as possible. For details, please refer to the "Public Lending Rights Registration System" https://plr.moc.gov.tw/index.html.

The Ministry of Culture explained that in order to increase support and hope to more fully reflect the actual borrowing situation of public libraries across Taiwan, after joint discussions between the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Education, starting from January 1 next year, the calculation scope of the number of borrowings will be expanded to include more than 500 public libraries across the country, and the compensation fee will be applicable starting from the fifth period. It is hoped that more borrowings from readers across Taiwan can be converted into support for creators and publishers.

The Ministry of Culture emphasized that during the current second phase of the pilot program, it will continue to collect opinions from all walks of life and work with the Ministry of Education to gradually optimize the system design.