Macmillan's Controversial New Library eBook Lending Policy in the USA 

7.08.19

On 25 July, CEO of Macmillan, John Sargent, announced his company's new e-lending policy for libraries, claiming in the letter he sent to authors, illustrators and agents, 'that library lending was 'cannibalizing' sales and impacting royalties as revenue from library sales are 'a small fraction of the revenue we share with you on a retail read.'  

Read more about Macmillan's announcement here.

The AuthorsGuild swiftly welcomed the news, on the basis that any change that supported authors' ability to be fairly recompensed for their work, was positive. 

The war of words continued, with an equally significant rebuttal from Steve Potash, the CEO of Overdrive one of the biggest suppliers of digital content to libraries.

So where does the ASA stand on the issue, bearing in mind that thus far this is a USA issue only?  

If the data in Australia supports the claim that eBook lending in libraries cannibalises book sales, then the ASA would support any change that helps address this issue. The important research that Rebecca Giblin's elendingproject.org is undertaking, will help to cast light on eBook lending in Australia and will help us ascertain if a restriction to availability of new eBooks in libraries helps or inhibits author earnings. 

Regardless of how this develops, it does highlight the increasing urgency for eBooks and audio books to be included in PLR and ELR. It also highlights just how important these payments are to authors in this country, as there is no PLR/ELR in the USA. We are so grateful to the founders of the ASA for their valiant and successful campaign to secure these rights for the benefit of all authors and illustrators in Australia.

We will keep up-to-date on this issue, especially if it becomes more relevant to this market.