Source: Radio New Zealand
The National Library became aware of an issue with payments for 2025 in late December. Google Maps
New Zealand authors have missed out on an annual payment that some describe as a key part of their income.
The Public Lending Right (PLR) scheme makes a payment to authors each year, when they have sufficient books in New Zealand libraries.
The payments are made in December from a government fund of $2.4 million. In 2025 there were 1541 registered and the per-book rate was $5.19.
But this year, a number of authors did not receive the payments they were told they were due.
Authors have to confirm their eligibility for payment every year, whether or not they have new books in libraries.
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) said the National Library became aware of an issue with the payments for 2025, in late December.
“Due to an administration error, 318 authors received an email in error in July confirming they were registered for the scheme when, according to our records, they were not registered.
“These authors did not receive a payment when 1248 eligible authors received their PLR payment in mid-December. A portion of these authors would have been eligible for payment had they registered.
“We have been in contact with all authors to apologise for any upset or inconvenience this has caused and advise we are considering options to put things right. Authors financially impacted by the error will receive further contact regarding next steps once decisions have been finalised.”
It said it was also reviewing its administration of the scheme and usability to stop the error happening again.
“We have had useful feedback from authors about how the registration process could be improved. A key recommendation from authors is an automated response in real-time to let them know that their registration has been received would resolve many concerns.”
One author, Linda Jane Keegan, said she was sure she had registered but when she queried the lack of payment, she was told she had not. She said she had been counting on the money.
“The PLR payment is a huge chunk of income for me, and I was expecting it to cover some expenses. Not receiving it when I was expecting to caused significant financial stress in what is an already high-cost time of year.
“I am also worried that even after putting time and mental energy into contacting the DIA to resolve the issue, that a payment won’t be possible because the fund, as a limited pool, has already been divided and paid out.”
Anna Mackenzie. Supplied / Madeline Ross
NZ Society of Authors spokesperson Anna Mackenzie said it was a concern that the error had happened.
“That this arose at all also highlights how overdue we are for an overhaul of the PLR legislation, which was written in a pre-digital world and in a particularly prescriptive manner.”
She said she had been told about half of the authors who were incorrectly told they had registered would have been eligible for a payment.
Mackenzie said New Zealand was behind other countries when it came to compensating authors for their work. There current rules did not allow for payments for electronic copies or for copies in school libraries.
“It’s a very inappropriate-in-today’s-world piece of legislation. It can only be changed at the behest of the minister and many ministers have been spoken to over the last 15 years and often they’ll say that, yes, they understand and they see it’s a priority, but we are yet to get that to the point where we’re even looking at a review.
“However, the current minister has indicated that she does think this is an issue that should be addressed, so we are once again hopeful that this will get back on to the table and be looked at properly.”
The society said the requirement that 50 books of a particular title are stocked in libraries was also unfair.
*Disclosure: Susan Edmunds is one of the registered authors who receives this payment and received it successfully in 2025.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
