Public Lending Right: The American Author’s Viewpoint

right (PLR). But, for the most part, they seem to like what they hear. Completely confident generalizations about the American writer’s attitude toward PLR are impossible, if only because the attitude is too unformed. At this point, PLR has attracted understanding and support among only a relatively small group of authors active in major East Coast professional organizations. Nonetheless, interest in PLR is building. Several major writers’ publications have carriedat least brief comments on the right within the past year, and the general climate of opinion among authors eventually may stimulate a full-fledged American PLR campaign. But for now, the prevailing opinion is one of first impression, an opinion that the executive secretary of one writers ’ organization describes as basically positive (“a little bit of palm-rubbing”) mixed with skepticism (“it’ll never happen in my lifetime”).’ Grace Weinstein occupies one of the better vantage points to survey the American writer’s opinion from her position as president of the Council of Writer’s Organizations, an umbrella group embracing a number of leading writers ’ associations. She confirms that few authors are conversant with PLR: “I was surprised when I brought it up at one of our meetings that i t had to be defined for a lot of people. I’ve been hearing about it for a number of years and I think it would be a wonderful thing.”