The main public support for writers is the Swedish Authors’ Fund. Originators of literary works (authors, translators, and illustrators) are compensated for lending in public libraries in accordance with the Government Statute on The Swedish Authors’ Fund (1962:652). The Fund allocates this government compensation. A portion of this compensation is given to the individual author in direct proportion to the number of public loans of his / her work, while another portion is transferred to the Swedish Authors’ Fund which awards grants and scholarships in support of authors, translators, playwrights, and journalists in the field of arts. Since 1985, the size of government funds allocated to the Swedish Authors’ Fund, i.e., the Library Fee, is decided in agreements between, on the one hand, the government and, on the other hand, the Swedish Writers’ Association, Swedish Illustrators, and the Swedish Photographers’ Association. As of 2015, these agreements are negotiated biannually. In 2023 an agreement was made for 2024 and 2025. The basic compensation for the lending of one Swedish original work was increased by SEK 0.08 to 2.12 for the year 2024, and by an additional SEK 0.08 for 2025. The parties also agreed on temporary extra funding to compensate for the negative impact of the Covid-19 restrictions on library lending. This amounts to total library compensation of around SEK 190.5 million 2024 (an increase of SEK 2.0 million), and SEK 190.6 million 2025 (+0.1 million).
Press and media are supported by the government via The Swedish Press and Broadcasting Authority, with the intention of promoting diversity in general news media on both national and local level. This funding is distributed in two main forms of financial support: press support and media support. Press Support is aimed at supporting the distribution and production of regularly published newspapers (paper or digital) with a minimum of 1,500 paying subscribers. It is allocated to all newspapers meeting the criteria. For 2023, a total of SEK 700 million was granted in Press Support. Media Support is aimed at all general media (including web-based media, printed newspapers, radio, and television) whose main purpose is to convey news. From January 1st, 2024, Media Support will be allocated in five areas:
- General editorial support
- Extended editorial support
- Distribution support
- Transitional support
- Support for daily newspaper distribution in case of mail delivery every second day.
The reformed Media support is aimed to be neutral in relation to type of media.
Comments are closed.