Estonian Authors' Fund Distributes Record €1.4M in 2025 Library Lending Payouts

The Estonian Authors' Compensation Fund will distribute lending compensation for 2025 at the end of June. The payouts will cover writers, translators and illustrators based on library loans. This year’s total budget for compensation reached €1,412,360. The 2025 compensation was calculated using 4,051,004 electronically recorded loans from public libraries. The total distributed amounted to €1,402,041 among 2,115 authors and rights holders.

Unit values for original-language works rose to €1.48, up from €1.42 in 2024. For works in translation, the rate increased to €3.28 from €2.39. Translators saw a smaller rise, with their unit value growing from €0.33 to €0.34.

The maximum compensation for 2025 was set at €8,368, an increase from €7,924 the previous year. A total of 27 authors reached this ceiling. Designer Villu Koskaru recorded the highest number of loans at 118,086. Writer Kairi Look received 6,238 loans, earning €6,409 in compensation. The fund will finalise payments by the end of June. The updated rates and higher maximum payout reflect increased borrowing activity. More than two thousand creators will benefit from the 2025 distribution.