Increased author's compensation fund to pay €500,000 for free public loans
The state has decided to increase the authors' compensation fund's budget by €400,000, with €650,000 as the fund's core funding for the following years. The Ministry of Culture announced on Friday that €500,000 will be allocated to the public lending author compensation scheme in the coming year.
'We have reached an agreement that the most of this additional resource will go toward loan compensation. The Authors' Compensation Fund provides equal compensation to authors whose works are read and borrowed," Minister of Culture Piret Hartman said.
"Surely, those who work in our literary sector deserve better pay for their efforts, and their work must continue," she added.
From the Authors' Compensation Fund's budget of €650,000 for 2023, €500,000 will be allocated to loan compensation for authors and €100,000 to reproduction premium, leaving €50,000 for the institution's running expenses.
In addition, state funding for the acquisition of materials for public libraries will grow by €147,000 to nearly €2 million in 2023.
The Authors' Compensation Fund (Sihtasutus Autorihüvitusfond or AHF)
was established in January 2004 by the Estonian Writers' Union, the Estonian Publishers' Association (Eesti Kirjastuste Liit or EKL) and the Association of Estonian Graphic Designers (Eesti Kujundusgraafikute Liit or EKGL). The purpose of the AHF foundation is to compensate authors and copyright holders for the lending and reproduction of works from public libraries.
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Editor: Kristina Kersa
