The library operates under the Icelandic Library Act no. 150/2012 and under Article 19 of the Copyright Act.

From library law: The role of the Icelandic National Library is to provide library services to those who cannot access the normal printed texts by means of the dissemination of a wide range of library material, including educational material, in the best possible manner according to the wishes and needs of the users.

Libraries all play a role in equal access and for the purpose of all being able to read, the National Library of Iceland produces material for loan recipients who are blind, visually impaired and dyslexic and/or others who have difficulty reading printed text.

Article 19 Copyright law: Re-enactment and distribution of copies of published works may be authorized when such copies are specifically intended for use by blind, visually impaired, deaf, or dyslexia or other persons who are unable to use the normal printed language for reading. This provision shall not apply if the re-enactment or distribution is carried out for financial purposes.

The recording of works of literature may be made by means of recordings to be lent to blind, visually impaired, dyslexic and others who are unable to use the normal printed language for reading, provided that the copies are not made for financial purposes.

Authors are entitled to reasonable compensation for such a copy.

Payments

The amounts paid to writers and translators are determined according to an agreement between the Icelandic Audio Library and the Icelandic Writers' Union. It provides for a single payment for the general use of authors' rights for their own work and for the use of recordings by the library.

The amounts are updated on January 1 every year based on the wage index and are available. hér. 

The RSÍ is responsible for making payments to authors.

The agreement can be seen in full here. heimasíðu Rithöfundasambandsins.

Can the library read and loan the book without consulting the author?

Yes, the library can do that. The library is not a publishing house, even though books are read in order to make them accessible to blind, visually impaired, dyslexic and others who cannot use printed text for learning, information and pleasure.

An international agreement is in effect regarding the right to publish and distribute all copyrighted printed material in accessible format for printed-only individuals. The agreement is known as Marrakesh and is a welcome development. The Icelandic government signed the agreement in 2021 and all countries of the European Union have done so along with most countries of the world.

The Icelandic Audio Library made 374 audio books available in 2023, which is about one fifth of all books published annually in Iceland. The library does not have the funding to read in all books and make them available to people with reading disabilities, but it seeks to read in a variety of material with emphasis on the wishes and needs of the loan recipients.

The library employs 30 trained readers and it is very difficult to choose the best voices for each work. Many people try to get a job reading but all have to pass a rigorous test, which includes clarity and presentation. Often it is the actors who are responsible for reading but also very used readers.

The library is not obligated to contact the rights holder before the works are read in, but if the author contacts the library and requests to read the book himself, it is attempted to meet that request. Authors who are interested in reading their books themselves are asked to contact the library in good time, preferably before the book is published. The library is then checked to see if the book is available for reading and the author must be sure to have time to read within a certain time frame so that services for the visually impaired are not impaired. A fee of 10,500 ISK is paid for each time read in. All new readers are given a reading test before reading a whole work begins, including the author of the work.