VG word bonus

Reporting system TOM (texts online reporting)

Authors must send the contract in advance in order to use the online registration system. Only after the signed contract has arrived at VG Wort will you be activated for the online registration system . A copy by fax or scan is not sufficient. The applications for individual titles can be ordered online or by telephone and, once completed, sent to VG Wort by post.

What is the collecting society Wort (VG Wort)?

Since the copyright reform of 1972, you as an author have been entitled to remuneration for lending, copying and scanning your work in public libraries, for example, and for the use of articles in press reviews and for reprints in school textbooks. Therefore, public and private institutions that set up copiers or operate devices with copier functions (faxes, scanners) must pay fees to VG Wort. This bonus from secondary usage rights is then managed by VG Wort. It is the task of VG Wort, as a non-profit organisation, to administer the contractually entrusted rights of use and remuneration claims of its members and rightholders in trust. It collects the statutory royalties from secondary usage rights and passes them on to the rights holders of the reported works. Authors, translators and publishers of aesthetic and dramatic, journalistic and scientific texts who have been recognized as authors by VG Wort via a registration card or online registration are entitled to a distribution (observe the registration deadlines!).

How can I participate in the distribution?

As an author, you must first conclude a rights administration agreement with VG Wort. This means nothing other than that you have to register with VG Wort. Basically, you have two options: either by registration card or by online procedure. Use the registration card to fill out all forms in writing and send them to VG Wort (the postmark is the date of receipt). The much more convenient option is the online reporting procedure. We have provided you with a link that takes you directly to the VG Wort online report , so that you can benefit from the distribution as quickly as possible. After registering, you will receive your access data for the registration system by email so that you can register your book.

How high is the distribution to authors?

The author's fee for scientific titles is paid out once. However, the exact amount of the remuneration depends on the income of VG Wort within a year, the ascertainable extent of use of a work, the number of reports received and the size of a book. Books are rated regardless of their format at

49 to 100 printed pages with a factor of 0.7
101 to 300 printed pages with a factor of 1.0
301 to 500 printed pages with a factor of 1.1
501 to 700 printed pages with a factor of 1.2
701 to 900 printed pages with a factor of 1.3
901 to 1,100 printed pages n with a factor of 1.4
over 1,100 printed pages with a factor of 1.5

Payout ratios of VG Wort

The amount of the royalties from secondary usage rights for scientific titles can be found in the current quota overview. Below are the VG-Wort quota overviews for the last 12 years (2011-2022).

Science department
VG Word_Quotenuebersicht_2022_fuer_2021
VG Word_Quotenuebersicht_2021_fuer_2020
VG Word_Quotenuebersicht_2020_fuer_2019
VG Word_Quotenuebersicht_2019_fuer_2018
VG Word_Quotenuebersicht_2018_fuer_2017
VG Word_Quotenuebersicht_2017_fuer_2016
VG Word_Quotenuebersicht_2016_fuer_2015
VG Word_Quotenuebersicht_2015_fuer_2014
VG Word_Quotenuebersicht_2014_fuer_2013
VG Word_Quotenuebersicht_2013_fuer_2012
VG Word_Quotenuebersicht_2012_fuer_2011
VG Word_Quotenuebersicht_2011_fuer_2010
Source: VG word

What requirements do authors have to meet?

Authors with German nationality or residence in Germany, nationals of states of the European Union and Switzerland are entitled to purchase. Authors based in Austria or Switzerland do not contact the VG Wort, but the respective organization in their country (LITERAR-MECHANA or Litteris). You participate once in the distribution if your work is published by a publisher. Your book will receive an ISBN from us and will be registered with the VLB (directory of available books). Since the remuneration is intended as compensation for the use of texts in libraries through lending and copying, appropriate dissemination in academic libraries is required. Specifically, this means that a title must be available in at least five locations. The German National Library will receive two mandatory copies from us, and we will send another to the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Library in Hanover. As a rule, our titles are added to the holdings of at least three other libraries within a year, so that you are entitled to claim from the VG Wort. The prerequisite is that your work must be longer than 50 pages. After your book has been published and your deposit copies have been submitted to the library, all you have to do is register with VG Wort and conclude a rights administration agreement, so that you will receive your additional author's fee on the next distribution date. The payment date is always June/July of the following year (you will receive a cheque).

Registration deadlines for the next distribution in 2023

Registration/ Administration Agreement:
The deadline for submission of administration agreements is Saturday, December 31, 2021 (midnight / inbox).

title message:
The deadline for submitting your title reports on the 2023 distribution is Tuesday, January 31, 2023 (midnight / inbox).