We distribute public lending remunerations to visual artists. If you have created or took images or photographs for a book, you can register as a visual artist of books at the public lending remuneration service.
Images that grant visual artists the right to be compensated include illustration, comics, picture of artworks, photograph and cover image.
Once you have registered as a visual artist of a publication, you are entitled to be compensated for the lending of the publication in question as long as the compensation is included in the lending statistics.
The range of publications that receives remunerations varies annually depending on lendings. The public lending right scheme applies to books that have been lent the most: 50,000 publications that have been lent the most of all public lendings are eligible for remunerations.
The current remuneration distribution is based on the public lending statistics of 2019–2022. The public lending remunerations for each year are distributed for three years from the start of the distribution.
The public lending remuneration is an author-specific remuneration, and authors must register to the system. The minimum amount of remunerations to be distributed is EUR 10.
Taxation of copyright remunerations
Copyright remunerations are subject to withholding tax. We will withhold tax from your remunerations based on your tax rate. We will receive your withholding tax rate from the Tax Administration at the start of each calendar year. If you are a new customer, please submit a copy of your tax card for the payments in the first year. Pensioners and minors must submit their tax cards to us every year.
Please also check your tax rate entered on our public lending remunerations service. If there are any changes to your withholding tax information during the year, please inform us of this by submitting your new tax card. We only pay remunerations to authors whose valid withholding tax rate is known to us. We cannot make any adjustments to the withholding tax afterwards. The withholding tax is not applied to remunerations under EUR 20.
If you are a permanent resident of a foreign country, in which case you are under restricted tax liability in Finland, we will need a tax-at-source report (the pdf is in Finnish) from you. In the event that your restricted tax liability ends, please submit a valid tax card to us.
You do not need to inform the Tax Administration separately of the copyright remunerations paid to you; we will submit the information on your behalf.
You can register as the visual artist of your publications in the Kopiosto public lending remuneration service. In the service, you can find publications eligible for remunerations and register as an author of one, review and update your customer details and browse your own publications.
Tips for searching for publications in the public lending remuneration service:
The data concerning images in the lending statistics used as the basis of remuneration distribution are regrettably often incomplete. This is why it is advisable to search for books you have provided images to in the list of publications eligible for lending remunerations with the main author’s name (in most cases, the libraries’ catalogues use the writer’s name), the title of the book and/or the ISBN identifier one search term at a time.
Indicate the types of images (e.g. illustration, comic, photograph) you have created for the publication. If you hold more than one role of a visual artist of a publication, please indicate the type of images you have created in the largest quantity.
The amount of author-specific remunerations concerning a single publication depends on the ratio between the number of images reported by the author and the total number of images in the publication. Please indicate the proportion of images created by you in the publication as a percentage (1–100 %) or a number (number of own images/total number of images in the publication). Depending on circumstances, the proportion of images report can be based on an estimate, accurate information or an agreement between the authors.
In Finland, the administration of public lending rights and the distribution of remunerations are performed by three copyright organisations. Kopiosto, Sanasto and Teosto are in charge of the public lending right schemes of authors of visual arts and photography, authors of literary works and authors of musical works, respectively.
The public lending right scheme applies to books and phonograms available to be lent at public libraries. In practice, it applies to the copyrighted material of printed and audio books, phonograms and sheet music: text, images and music.
Public lending remunerations are distributed to text, image and music authors from the EEA. According to law, authors are entitled to remunerations when their works, such as the text, images, notes or phonograms, are lent to the public. The distribution of the public lending remunerations financed by the Ministry of Education and Culture to authors is based on the lending statistics of public libraries. The allocated sum to be used for the public lending right scheme is defined annually in the state budget.
Public lending remuneration work group
Matters concerning the public lending right of visual artists are processed by an expert group consisting of rightsholders’ representatives in cooperation with Kopiosto. The Kopiosto member organisations from the field of visual arts are represented in the work group: the Central Association of Finnish Photographic Organisations, Finnfoto, the Finnish Comics Professionals, Grafia − Association of Visual Communication Designers in Finland, the Finnish Illustration Association, and Visual Artists’ Copyright Society Kuvasto.
Kopiosto public lending remuneration work group members:
Asta Boman, The Finnish Illustration Association, chairman
Timo Kokkila, The Finnish Comics Professionals
Tommi Nilsson, Visual Artists’ Copyright Society Kuvasto
Katri Soramäki, Grafia − Association of Visual Communication Designers in Finland
Mikko Säteri, The Central Association of Finnish Photographic Organizations, Finnfoto
Copyright Act has a new regulation on the remunerations of the library use of e-books and e-audiobooks. What does this change signify?
With the amendment tothe Copyright Act that will enter into force at the beginning of 2024, remunerations will be paid to creative industries regarding the library use of e-books and electronic audiobooks included in the collections of public libraries and university libraries.
In 2023, upon a separate decision by the Ministry of Education and Culture, public libraries paid remunerations regarding the library use of e-books and electronic audiobooks to authors, translators, visual artists and music creators. This change in law will make the remuneration permanent and will also apply to university libraries. Moving forward, the readers of e-audiobooks will also be paid a remuneration.
Will visual artists be compensated for the library use of their e-materials?
Yes. Visual artists will be paid remunerations for their illustrations included in e-books and electronic audiobooks, including the book covers. Kopiosto will manage the payments of visual artists’ public lending remunerations.
Which use of e-books and electronic audiobooks entitles the authors to a remuneration?
A remuneration is paid for the use of e-books and electronic audiobooks in library collections, in which the e-book or the electronic audiobook is in the customer’s use for a limited time. This applies to public libraries, university libraries and the collective e-libraries of different libraries.
The remuneration does not apply to commercial e-book or audiobook services, e.g. the ‘online bookshelf’ services of publishers or other parties or the direct streaming services of e-books and electronic audiobooks intended for consumers.
How does this legislative change affect the copyrights of an audio book?
This legal change only applies to a remuneration for the library use of e-books and electronic audiobooks. It does not affect the copyright or the copyright protection of the work’s author, the e-book or the electronic audiobook.
The reader of an audiobook will be given related rights to their performance. True to its name, a related right is a protection that is close to a copyright. A related right gives the performing artist the exclusive right to prohibit or allow the recording of their performance and the use of this recording. The related rights of a performing artist include similar financial and moral rights as an author’s copyright.
Visual artists, writers, translators and music writers still hold the copyrights to their work and the reader of an audiobook holds the related rights to their performance and the recording made of it.
Are the readers of audiobooks paid any remunerations for library use in other countries?
In addition to Finland, the audiobook readers, at least, in Denmark and Canada are paid remunerations for the library use of e-materials.
How much is paid in remuneration for the library use of e-books and electronic audiobooks?
Upon a separate decision by the Ministry of Education and Culture, remunerations for the library use of e-books and electronic audiobooks in public libraries were paid to authors, translators, visual artists and music creators in 2023. At the time, remunerations were paid for the library use of e-books and electronic audiobooks in public libraries in accordance with the lending statistics of 2022.
Based on the data collected by organisations managing the public lending remunerations, 517,226 e-books and 859,008 e-audiobooks were loaned from public libraries in 2022, i.e. 1,376,234 electronic loans in total. For these, EUR 539,000 in total was paid as remunerations to writers, translators, visual artists and music writers (includes 10% VAT). Kopiosto will pay the remunerations for e-books and e-audiobooks to the visual artists and photographers.
The proportions of remunerations paid to visual, text and music authors and e-audiobook readers in 2024 will be negotiated during the spring. The organisation representing each of these author and performer groups will pay the proportion to the authors or performers in accordance with their own payment principles. Audiobook readers will only receive library use remunerations for e-audiobook loans.
In the state budget, the sum reserved for the library use remuneration of e-materials is EUR 1 million in 2024.