Skip to content

How to make money from your copyright in Australia

Have you ever wondered how to make money from your copyright in Australia? Once you have established your copyright in Australia, there are several ways you can generate an income from your work.

ELR/PLR

The Australian Lending Rights Scheme provides payments for books that are available in Australian libraries. There is a limit of five years after publication, the work must be available in at least 50 libraries, and you must reach a minimum threshold of $100 before a payment is made.

As well as print books, you can also register your ebooks and audiobooks.

Copyright Agency

Membership in the Copyright Agency means you are eligible for distributions of copyright payments for your registered works.

In 2024, I received a payment of just over $500, which is quite significant given my sales figures for the past two years!

selling

Putting your books up on platforms such as Amazon KDP, Ingram Spark, Google Play Books, Draft2Digital, Findaway Voices, SoundCloud for Artists means that you take advantage of established worldwide distribution channels and get royalties for sales or lending. I also put my books up for consignment at select bookstores, and sell my books at markets and book festivals.

I just drew up my sales figures for 2021-2024 financial years, and I found that the format that sold the most was my autographed copies. Thanks for your support!