2010-2011 Author Payments
| Statistics | |
| Number of authors receiving payments: | 17,487 |
| Number of eligible titles in PLR database: | 81,663 |
| Total amount issued in payments to authors: |
$9,901,336.70 |
| Maximum author payment: | $3,392.20 |
| Average payment: | $566.00 |
| Median payment: | $282.00 |
| Province | Number of authors | Payment total |
|---|---|---|
| Quebec | 5,881 | $4,027,642 |
| Ontario | 5,567 | $2,937,386 |
| British Columbia | 2,467 | $1,246,098 |
| Alberta | 890 | $446,527 |
| Outside of Canada | 552 | $306,818 |
| Nova Scotia | 630 | $266,405 |
| New Brunswick | 384 | $173,900 |
| Manitoba | 425 | $173,501 |
| Saskatchewan | 324 | $168,964 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 255 | $105,513 |
| Prince Edward Island | 64 | $32,578 |
| Yukon | 30 | $9,140 |
| Northwest Territories | 14 | $5,632 |
| Nunavut | 4 | $1,234 |
| Total | 17,487 | $9,901,337 |
PLRC’s Budget
In June 2009, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages announced that the $25 million in funding to the Canada Council would be extended for five years. Author payments through the PLR program will continue to benefit from $1 million of this funding
Library Sampling
Sampling involves checking the PLR program’s registered titles against the catalogues of a selection of public libraries each year. Through sampling, we are able to determine the number of hits for a title, that is, the number of libraries in which the title is found.
We survey six public libraries in each official language and double results for libraries in large urban centres.
Calculating the payments
PLR payments are calculated using a four-category payment scale. The categories correspond to the number of years that a title has been registered with the program. This year, for any title found in the PLR’s library sampling, the payment is calculated based on the following scale:
|
Number of Years Title Registered with PLR |
Payment if Title Found |
| Category I: 2006 to 2010 |
$48.46 |
| Category II: 2001 to 2005 |
$38.77 |
| Category III: 1996 to 2000 |
$33.92 |
| Category IV: 1986 to 1995 |
$29.08 |
The amounts in this scale apply to authors claiming 100% of a PLR payment. In situations where there is more than one contributor to a book, the value of the hit is pro-rated among the contributors according to the percentage of the book that was their contribution.
Re-Activated Files: An author whose file is re-activated will receive payments based on the category corresponding to the original date of registration of his titles.