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Mr Speaker,

I move, That the Public Lending Right for New Zealand Authors Bill be now read a first time.

At the appropriate time I intend to move that the bill be considered by the Government Administration Committee and that the committee report finally to the House on or before 22 August 2008.

The Bill will establish a scheme to make payments to New Zealand authors in recognition of their books being available for use in New Zealand libraries.

As Associate Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage it is my pleasure to introduce this Bill, which gives legal recognition and support to New Zealand authors.

As Minister Responsible for the National Library of New Zealand I applaud the acknowledgement the Bill makes of the public benefit of having New Zealand authors' books being widely available in the libraries.

The Public Lending Right for New Zealand Authors Bill will establish a new scheme to replace the New Zealand Authors' Fund, currently administered by Creative New Zealand under section 31 of the Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa Act 1994.

The Bill repeals section 31 of that Act.

The New Zealand Authors' Fund
The New Zealand Authors' Fund was established by a Cabinet Minute of 2 July 1973 that approved "the establishment of a scheme for making payments to authors for the library use of their work".

Then Prime Minister, Norman Kirk, stated that "one of the purposes of the Public Lending Right is to make it possible for the authors' earnings to be increased to a point where they can provide them with the time to put into writing".

New Zealand was the first English speaking country to introduce such a scheme.

The Fund was administered by the Department of Internal Affairs until it was transferred in 1991 to the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand, now Creative New Zealand.

In 2002, government topped up the fund by half a million dollars.

Under the Authors' Fund, authors have an expectation of payment, rather than an explicit entitlement to payment, based on library holdings of their works.

The available fund is divided amongst eligible authors on the basis of the number of books held in libraries.

Lack of clarity has developed however, about the Government's specific purpose in funding the scheme in order to provide these payments.

Section 31 of Creative New Zealand's legislation, follows the 1973 Cabinet Minute and states that the purpose of the scheme is to provide compensation for loss of royalties as a result of books being available in New Zealand libraries.

Such loss cannot be quantified however, and payments under the scheme represent compensation only in the broadest sense.

In reality payments have come to be seen by authors as a justified additional income stream and a form of recompense to which they are entitled as fair payment for allowing their creative works to be available for wide public use in libraries.

Mandating the current scheme within Creative New Zealand's legislation and requiring that agency to fund and administer it has also proved an uneasy fit over time.

The New Zealand Authors' Fund provides payments based on eligibility criteria, to authors who are registered for the scheme, from a set fund.

Creative New Zealand's core business, on the other hand, is to disburse its funding through application-driven processes and contestable funding decisions based on merit, and its own strategic priorities, at arm's length from the government.

Creative New Zealand supports the transfer of the Authors' Fund from its responsibility.

International comparisons
In line with comparable schemes overseas, such as the UK and Australia, the Bill establishes a public lending right scheme that recognises that there is public benefit from the use of books in public libraries, for which authors deserve and should be entitled to payment.

Internationally there are twenty-eight such schemes.   In line with international practice the Bill does not include in the scheme non-book material held in libraries, such as CD Roms, audiotapes, music scores, on-line services or videos.

We are willing to consider this further and will, if convinced, include such material in future policy.

 

Stand-alone legislation
There has been an on-going call for stand-alone legislation to give clear direction on the scope, eligibility criteria and administration of a public lending right scheme, to replace the current legislative arrangement for the New Zealand Authors' Fund.

Providing for the scheme within stand-alone legislation will give the public lending right statutory protection and reduce the risk of it being abolished.

Stand-alone legislation would also bring New Zealand in line with comparable arrangements in Australia and the UK.

The Bill
The provisions in the Bill reflect calls from authors and take account of a major review of the Authors' Fund completed in the year 2000. 

This followed the Labour Party's 1999 Manifesto commitment to "develop a satisfactory statutory basis for administration of the Authors Fund, in consultation with authors and Creative New Zealand;" and to "work towards a book rate which properly compensates authors for loss of royalties."

The Bill has been developed with input from representatives of the New Zealand Society of Authors.

 

Location
The details of where the newly established Public Lending Right scheme will be administered are a matter for debate, and I would expect submissions to discuss this.

Both the Ministry for Culture and Heritage and the National Library have been suggested and both have advantages and possible conflicts.

My preference is not to establish a stand-alone organisation as this will always be a comparatively small fund and we want as much as possible to go to authors.

Regulations
Until now, the New Zealand Authors' Fund guidelines are issued from time to time - with no required consultation with authors or with the Minister.

The Bill requires regulations to determine the criteria on which authors, books and libraries should be included.

Changes to regulations will be subject both to consultation with an advisory group established for the scheme, and recommendation from the responsible Minister to the Governor-General.

 

 

Advisory Group
The Bill requires the chief executive of the administering department to appoint an advisory group in consultation with the responsible Minister.

The advisory group will consist of representatives of authors and librarians, employees of relevant government departments, and others who have the appropriate experience, knowledge and skills.

The establishment of such a group is something that authors have strongly advocated.

Payment
The responsible department will make annual payments under the scheme in accordance with the regulations.

Each registered author will receive an annual payment based on a book-rate, which represents an amount payable per copy of eligible titles held in New Zealand libraries.

The amount of funding available to the scheme will be subject to the usual budget cycle processes.

Transition
In May 2008, the Prime Minister announced that an additional $2 million would be added to the Authors' Fund over four years, raising its current annual funding to $2 million.

The Authors' Fund will continue to operate, as currently administered by Creative New Zealand, until the date the Public Lending Right for New Zealand Authors Act comes into force.

Concluding Remarks
The Bill gives recognition to the vital contribution that New Zealand authors make to the government's cultural provision.

As a comparatively small market of 4.2 million people, New Zealand will not be able to support all writers without significant exporting, in spite of the very high rate at which we buy books (especially New Zealand books).

By establishing a Public Lending Right there is a clear recognition of entitlement to, rather than expectation of, payment.

It recognises that New Zealand writers shape our understanding of New Zealand and society in profound and mostly positive ways.

I am grateful to the parties which have given their support to this bill and urge them to support the first reading and its referral to the Government Administration Committee for the hearing of submissions and further consideration.

I commend this Bill to the House.

 

 

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