Posts Tagged ‘public lending right’
Canada Council report analyzes PLR program for writers
It’s here at last: the Canada Council’s third and final report on this country’s Public Lending Right Program (PLR). Entitled Options for Renewal, it runs to 58 pages. Exhaustive and authoritative, it lays out the array of choices that face the Public Lending Right Commission. Hats off to Roy MacSkimming, the author and ex-publisher who…
Read MoreBirthday poem sparks controversy at Writers’ Union AGM
Controversy erupted Saturday at the annual general meeting of The Writers’ Union of Canada (TWUC) when members were urged to seek the attention of book clubs and reading groups with a bad poem. The motion that sparked a spirited debate was the second of two involving Canada’s Public Lending Right Program (PLR), which reimburses authors…
Read MoreThe Tribe gathers to celebrate PLR
That’s how Margaret Laurence would have described it — as a gathering of The Tribe. Scores of Canadian authors are heading to Toronto from across the country for the annual general meeting and conference of the Writers’ Union of Canada. The May 26 kick-off event, which is open to the public, celebrates the 25th anniversary…
Read MoreThe Wicked Need No Rest . . .
OK, here we go. On May 4, Our Hero addresses the Canadian Celtic Arts Association in downtown Toronto. It’s a public event co-sponsored by Celtic Studies, St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto, and Ken will talk about his book How the Scots Invented Canada. Details: please click here. On May 25, Ken will read from…
Read MoreU.K. authors battling for Public Lending Right
It’s a bad movie that we don’t want to see playing in local theatres any time soon. Authors in the U.K. are mobilizing to stop the government from making cuts to the national Public Lending Right, which provides authors with a payment of six pence each time one of their books is checked out from…
Read MoreUm, does the author ever get paid?
A recent story in the London Free Press shows why authors are wondering about the way ebooks are rolling into libraries. The future is now, the story tells us, and more and folks are “taking out books electronically, downloading titles from the comfort of their own computers.” At the London Public Library, which is just…
Read MoreCanadian literature in libraries
I recently returned from Ottawa, where as chair of the Public Lending Right Commission, I reported to the board of the Canada Council. My main message? Next year (2011) marks the 25th anniversary of the PLR Program, which recognizes Canadian authors for the presence of their books in libraries. These are still early days. But…
Read MoreMy letter to Michael Ignatieff
Eh, voila: me writing to Michael Ignatieff. Hi, Michael. Suggestions for the economy: How about some infrastructure spending that will put money into the hands of Canadians who will spend it, while paying dividends across the country, and especially in Quebec? I recommend increasing support to artists. 1. Change income tax provisions to exempt royalty…
Read More