Up to 1000 € for a book

Many authors do not know that they acquire a claim on an author's fee of the VG Wort, department of Science, when they publish a scientific book (in general a dissertation, habilitation treatise, research work or in exceptional cases an excellent master's thesis). There are just a few conditions that need to be fulfilled in order to receive this author's fee. One is that you entrust the VG Wort at no charge with the execution of the author's rights (the formula can be downloaded from the website vgwort.de). Another condition is that the book is disseminated in at least five libraries from at least three library associations. This can be investigated via the website of the Karlsruhe virtual catalogue. Each year the author's fee may be different and should be 500-1000 € for a work consisting of 100 pages. The author's fee can be requested up to three years after the book's publication via an online message at the T.O.M. portal of the VG Wort and will be transferred to you until July 1st of the following year.

Steps for the reception of 1000 €

1. Download the formula at no charge at the execution authorization at the VG Wort Abteilung Wissenschaft.
2. Publish your book/your dissertation in a publishing house (e.g. in the West German University Press).
3. Register your book via the T.O.M. portal of the VG Wort up to three years after publication (in each case until January 31st).
4. As soon as the book is available in at least five libraries and three associations, you receive the author's fee of 500-1000 € at the next July 1st.

Where does the money for the author's fee come from?

Books are copied. These copies represent copy right violations. The Bundestag has decided that the copy shops have to discharge 1 pfennig (today 0,5 eurocent) copy right fee to the VG Wort for each copy that is done in Germany. The VG Wort allocates this money to the book authors once a year.