income


Collect your royal flush


Freelances can earn extra money for work already published though collecting societies Isabella Kaminski explains


H


aving freelanced on and off for a decade, I’m well aware of how much fees have been degraded. So I’m always pleased


when a deposit arrives in my bank account from the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) – an extra lump sum for work I’ve already done. It was never quite clear to me how


the system for distributing royalties worked, and I became aware that some fellow freelances did not even know they could make a claim. Collecting societies sprung up in the


1970s as a response to the widespread use of photocopiers and the ensuing proliferation in copyright infringements. They were set up to manage and track the use of copyrighted works, and to ensure writers and publishers were being paid for the use of their works. The role of these organisations has shifted slightly since with changes to technology and regulations. The 2016 EU directive on collective rights management in particular increased the onus on collecting societies to show how they collect money and to investigate how works are being used. But their main goals remain the same. In the UK, the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) arranges collective secondary licences of copyrighted works on behalf of writers and other creative professionals. These are sold to schools, universities, libraries, government departments and businesses to cover the copying of published materials beyond ‘fair use’, for example extensive photocopying and internal reproduction. Collecting societies take fees from these group licences or, occasionally, individual licences and distribute them


22 | theJournalist


to their members. To make money, these non-profit organisations take a one-off fee or a cut of the royalties. There are benefits to freelance


journalists in joining a collecting society – it would be impractical or impossible to get the money from secondary licensing themselves. NUJ freelance organiser Pamela Morton says freelances should certainly be claiming this additional money. Royalties can be claimed only for


works where writers have retained some degree of copyright. These payments are not available to employees or freelancers who have signed their rights over. There are also time limits to making claims so the sooner you sign up, the better. People who write for books and


magazines with ISBN or ISSN can claim royalties through the ALCS; membership is free to those in the NUJ. Set up more than 40 years ago, the ALCS has more than 100,000 members. Last year, they received an average of £418 each, although this varied significantly depending on the work done and where it was published. Some people get four-figure sums. Book authors can sign up to receive additional money for use of their books under the Public Lending Right. Photographers (including those running picture libraries) and illustrators can get royalties through the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS), or its newer competitor Picsel. Newspapers are a trickier area. NLA Media Access is the main collecting society in this sector, but it is owned by publishers and most of its revenue goes directly to them.


Alan Geere, director of the NLA’s


Useful websites


Increase your skills ALCS www.alcs.co.uk


DACS www.dacs.org.uk


Public lending right www.bl.uk/plr


NLA special contributors scheme www.nlamediaaccess. com/default.aspx? tabid=210


special contributors scheme, says publishers are responsible for distributing royalties to freelancers. Where individuals are due less than £100 or the contributor cannot be found, the money is donated to the Journalists’ Charity. The NUJ believes that most publishers do not do enough to identify and distribute royalties to freelancers. However, Geere says the scheme’s biennial analysis of the newspaper sector shows most freelancers sign over secondary licensing rights to publishers, and adds that the NLA does not cover certain uses, such as syndication. The royalty collection system is not


perfect; writers and photographers have to inform societies about their work and it is nearly impossible to track everywhere an article or image has been used.


In addition, the online use of works


without permission or payment is a significant issue for authors, according to the ALCS, which has been investing in copyright education programmes to increase awareness. But royalties remain a valuable source of income for freelances. The money is already yours – it is just waiting for you to claim it.


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