IFLA has been alarmed by the news from Serbia about a proposed form of Public Lending Right that risks forcing mass closures of public libraries across the country. We strongly support the mobilization of the Serbian Library Association in this respect, urge the government to rethink its proposal, and call on the international reprographic rights community to condemn this step that undermines the credibility of such schemes. 

IFLA sees the work of libraries as having an essential role in a healthy reading ecosystem, building literacy from early years, supporting discovery of new voices, and ensuring that books remain accessible to all. In this, they both complement the commercial sector, and help guarantee the enjoyment of fundamental rights.

Given that libraries are contributing to – not harming – the health of the book sector, IFLA’s global position is that there is no need for a public lending right, as there is no reason for compensation.

Nonetheless, we also recognise that in some parts of the world (almost exclusively in Europe), public lending right payments are part of the act. This is the case in Serbia, which as part of its process of acceding to the European Union, is expected to comply with the Rental and Lending Directive. This sets out that a payment should be made for library lending, although it remains unclear how firmly this provision is being applied.

In such situations, we argue that implementation should take place in a way that causes as little cost to libraries as possible. We note in particular that direct support to authors offers a potentially far more efficient and targeted means of achieving cultural goals.

This is far from the case in Serbia, where new rules around public lending right risk leading to a library tax that threatens to force the closure of many public libraries. This, obviously enough, is likely to harm the reading environment in a country which already has a lower than average share of regular readers, according to Eurostat data. The closure of libraries also risks much broader effects on the communities that rely on them for connectivity, skills provision, and simply public space.

The news is particularly concerning in light of the fact that the law obliges the new tax to be collected by the Organisation for the Realization of Reprographic Rights, which is able to use 40% of revenues collected in order to support its own organisation. As the Serbian Library Association has indicated, there are also numerous other concerns around the Organisation’s compliance with good practice, not least WIPO’s own good practice guidelines.

Furthermore, IFLA notes that the proposal by the government runs explicitly against the best practice guidance produced by Public Lending Right International: ‘Best practice requires that PLR systems should be funded directly by central and/or regional government and should NOT be funded from library budgets.’

In the light of this, we can only echo the position of our Serbian members in rejecting this act and calling for a rethink that would ensure that Serbian writers and creators are supported effectively and efficiently. This cannot be the case when a key pillar of a healthy ecosystem is at risk. We trust that the government of Serbia will be able to find a more favourable way forwards.

In parallel, we call on the international reprographic rights community to disown this proposal, which runs against their own stated best practice, and to work constructively to advocate for approaches to supporting writers that achieve their goals without harming libraries.