According to a survey conducted by Merja Heikkinen of the Arts Council of Finland, Finland's artist grants from the government are at the lowest level in the entire Nordic area, with the exception of Iceland, which was not included in the comparison.
The annual amount of the grants to artists in Finland is about EUR 12 million, while for example Denmark - with more or less the same population as Finland - gives its artists over EUR 30 million per year.
In Sweden the grants are closer to the Finnish level, considering the size of population. The Swedish artists are given an annual sum of EUR 2.7 per inhabitant, while the corresponding figure in Finland is around EUR 2.3 per inhabitant. In Denmark the artists receive EUR 5.9, and in Norway EUR 5.4 per inhabitant.
The sums include all artist grants and appropriations given out by the government, except for the artists' pensions.
The copyright bill that is currently under debate in Parliament will not bring major changes to the artists' grants.
According to the bill, the government will pay copyright compensations for books borrowed from public libraries as of the beginning of 2007.
