Legal Definitions - lending right

Definition: Lending right is a copyright owner's power to control the use of copies of their work beyond the first sale. This control applies when someone offers the copy to the public for temporary use without requiring any payment.

For example, if you buy a book, you have the right to read it as many times as you want. But if you lend that book to someone else, you are using your lending right. The author still owns the copyright and has the power to control how many people can read the book at the same time.

Lending rights are recognized in the European Commission. This means that authors in Europe have the legal right to control the lending of their books, music, and other works. Libraries and other institutions that lend copyrighted materials must pay royalties to the copyright owners.