A fund to pay authors of books who have not received their rights after the judicial liquidation of a publisher has been created, an organization representing writers announced on Friday.
"
The general meeting of the Society of Literary People (SGDL), meeting on June 28, decided to create a Compensation Fund for the payment of royalties due to the author in the event of failure of his publisher.
“, she said in a press release.
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The subject is all the more sensitive since after having received an advance or an advance, the authors generally take a long time to perceive the fruit of the sales of their book.
"
When a publishing company is placed in compulsory liquidation, the authors, although they legally have the status of preferred creditor, almost never recover the sums which remain due to them
", underlined the SGDL.
For two reasons: insufficient provisions to cover future royalties and assets of generally too low a value to repay all secured creditors.
Claims for compensation "
will be presented to a commission composed of representatives of authors, publishers, qualified personalities and a representative of the Interregional Federation of Books and Reading
", according to the press release.
The SGDL requested an initial allocation from the French Society for the Interests of Written Authors (Sofia), a collective management body for the sector.
La Sofia is financed itself mainly by the sums collected for library lending (18.6 million euros in 2021) and digital private copying (14.9 million euros).
