Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The government is making a change so authors whose books are held in public libraries will no longer have to reapply every year for payments.
Authors will also be able to challenge their exclusion from the scheme earlier in the year.
The Public Lending Right scheme distributes up to $2.4 million to New Zealand authors at the end of each calendar year, based on the number of their books in libraries.
However, it requires authors to reapply each year - and those who wish to challenge the survey are only permitted to do so over the month of November.
Announcing the changes, Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden said it would reduce the administrative burden for the National Library, which administers the scheme.
"Eligible authors will no longer have to reapply every year to be included in the scheme, reducing the administrative burden on both authors and the National Library," she said.
She said it would also keep authors who had not applied in time from missing out.
"New Zealand has a rich literary landscape and many talented authors who have copies of their books available in local libraries for our communities to access. I hope that these small changes will simplify the process for authors receiving compensation through the Public Lending Right scheme," she said.
