How to make an Australian Lending Rights claim

If you're an Australian creator or publisher with an eligible book in Australian libraries, you may be able to receive payments through the Australian Lending Rights schemes.

As a creator or publisher, you must register and submit title claims within 5 years from the year of your book's publication. Books are surveyed in a sample of either public lending libraries or school, TAFE and university libraries.

Am I eligible?

If you've never made a Lending Rights claim, check your eligibility as either a creator, publisher or self-publisher.

Creators

You may be an eligible creator if you are:

an author
an illustrator
an editor
a translator

or otherwise contributed a significant proportion of original content to the whole or a part of the book.

You must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident and be entitled to receive ongoing royalties from the sale of your book.

If you received a flat fee instead of ongoing royalties or an equivalent financial interest, you are not eligible to claim as a creator for that book.

Publishers

You may be an eligible publisher if you are a:

company whose business consists wholly or substantially of publishing books and that regularly publishes in Australia
not-for-profit organisation that publishes books to further its aims or objectives
creator who publishes their own books.

Regularly publishing means publishing at least once in the preceding 3 years.

Self-publishers

If you wrote, illustrated, translated or otherwise created the book and published it yourself, you should register and claim as both a creator and a publisher.

Is my book eligible?

Once you've confirmed your eligibility as either a creator, publisher or self-publisher, check your book's eligibility.

Eligible books are printed books, ebooks, and audiobooks that:

have an ISBN
have been published and offered for sale
are claimed within 5 years from the year of publication
have a catalogue record in a national bibliographic database, such as the Schools Catalogue Information Service or the Australian National Bibliographic Database
have individual creators, not companies or organisations
be an original work protected by copyright and not wholly or substantially created using artificial intelligence.

Items that are not eligible include:

music and audio-visual material
magazines and other serial publications
games or cards
single-use books, such as activity books, sticker books or workbooks
items only with an Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN).

How to claim

If you're eligible to claim Lending Rights as either a creator, publisher or self-publisher and you've confirmed your book's eligibility, you can submit a title claim. Title claims can be made through Lending Rights Online.

If you're a new creator who has published your first book, or have not registered a book with Lending Rights before, follow the instructions to create an account and submit your first title claim as a new creator.
If you're an existing creator with a Lending Rights Online login, follow the instructions to submit a title claim as an existing creator.
If you're a publisher, follow the instructions to create a Lending Rights Online account or make a title claim as a publisher.
If you're a self-publisher, follow the instructions to create a Lending Rights Online account or make title claims as both a creator and publisher.

How payments work

PLR and ELR payments are calculated and paid separately.

If you are eligible, your payment will be based on the:

estimated number of your books held in public and educational (schools, universities and TAFEs) lending libraries in Australia
proportion of the royalties you receive for your books, and
applicable rates for PLR payments and ELR payments.

This calculation must reach a minimum of $100 for you to receive a payment.

Paper forms

Lending Rights Online is the preferred way to submit title claims and update account information. If you cannot use it, you can complete a paper form.

Paper forms take longer to process. Allow 5 to 10 business days for the requested action to be completed.

These forms may not meet WCAG 2.0 requirements. For accessible versions, please email: lendingrights@arts.gov.au.

Completed forms can be emailed to lendingrights@arts.gov.au or posted to: Lending Rights, GPO Box 3241, Canberra ACT 2601.