Visual artists receive over £200,000 in Dutch Public Lending Right royalties

    DACS is delighted to pay a share of over £200,000 in royalties to over 250 UK visual artists and their heirs for the lending of books featuring their work by libraries in the Netherlands.

    Where have the royalties come from?

    In the Netherlands, public libraries are required by law to pay a royalty to the Lending Right Foundation for each book they lend out. These royalties are paid to writers, artists and publishers via collecting societies.
     
    Visual artists whose works feature in these books are eligible for a share of the royalties.
     
    Our Dutch sister society, Pictoright, pays a share of this money to visual artists and for the first time, we have received a share for UK visual artists.
     
    We’ve worked closely with the Society of Authors, Association of Illustrators, Association of Photographers, PLR UK and illustrator, Nicola Smee, to make sure as many visual artists benefit from the royalties as possible.

    How much have UK visual artists been paid?

    Following last year’s claim process, we’ve just paid £208,000 to 257 artists and estates, with individual royalty payments ranging from £100 to just over £5,000.
     
    All types of visual artist have benefited, including the illustrator, Lucy Cousins, known for her Maisy Mouse children’s picture book-turned-CBeebies series and the photojournalist Marc Schlossman.
     
    Our Artists' Services Manager, Daniel Rudd, said:

    “We hope these royalties will make a valuable contribution to visual artists’ income, in line with our mission to transform the financial landscape for artists and their heirs. We’re currently exploring opportunities to develop the service to include PLR royalties from other European countries, and look forward to supporting more artists through this service.”

     

    Claim your Dutch PLR royalties in 2014

    We will continue to pay Dutch PLR royalties on an annual basis and registration for the next round will open this summer.
     
    To be eligible, artists must have had work published in a UK book which has been translated into Dutch and published in the Netherlands.
     
    You can read more about how to claim on our Dutch PLR webpage.



    Learn about our other royalties services for visual artists and their heirs.

    Image: 'False Ceiling',1995, by DACS artist Richard Wentworth © Richard Wentworth.  All Rights Reserved, DACS 2014

    Posted on 04/03/2014 by Laura Ward-Ure