Authors receive record pay-out from ALCS

Organisation gets more money into hands of journalists during cost-of-living crisis

LONDON, March 30, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On 22 March, ALCS made a record payment of £31,806,759.42 to 101,464 people. This is the first time that more than 100k writers have been paid within a year in the organisation's 45-year history, taking the overall amount of money paid to writers this financial year to £44.8m.

In response to the ongoing cost of living crisis and fresh from recent survey findings which saw writers' incomes continue to plummet, ALCS implemented changes to benefit recipients of its articles scheme, meaning that more money could be paid out faster to writers in immediate need of it.

Which writers received what?

The majority of ALCS members (78%) received payments of between £100 and £1,000 in the record pay-out.

• 3,688 of the recipients were members who were paid for the first time.
• Over 131,000 books, written by 91,574 members, received a payment.
• 60,810 articles, written by 9,945 members, received payment for a claim.
• 36,028 programmes/films written by 16,083 members, received a chunk of the money.
• 76,408 members were based in the UK
• 25,055 recipients were based overseas

ALCS income is collected from more than 40 countries all over the world, for uses such as copyright licensing, private copying levies and international public lending right. The biggest sole source of income this March was from the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA), who were set up 40 years ago to enable legal copying of writers works by authors and publishers working together. Other key areas of collection were from overseas audiovisual sources.

In what is now often referred to as 'ALCS Day', hundreds of writers took to social media to express their appreciation and gratitude to ALCS as well as recommending their colleagues sign up right away. This saw the organisation trending on Twitter on the day the money it paid out hit its members' accounts.

ALCS Chief Executive, Barbara Hayes said "We're delighted that we were able to respond so effectively to writers' needs in these challenging times and reward the creators that we value so highly. Our team have worked hard to pay this money out and the response from members has been incredibly gratifying and often moving. To hear that ALCS has helped each of these writers somewhat is a wonderful feeling."

Commenting on the record payment, Chair Jo Revill said:

"It is a great achievement that we have been able to pay out nearly £32m to more than 101,000 writers and illustrators this spring. This is all money that was due to them and which we've been able to collect and distribute.

We are in tough economic times, so any extra money authors receive can make the difference between them being able to continue to write or not. This is why as a not-for-profit body, we not only work on our distribution systems but also lobby on members' behalf for the economic case for writers to be understood – whether it's fiction, educational texts or screenwriting.

I'd like to thank all our members for the great support they offer our organisation and for their energy and enthusiasm in overcoming the challenges that we collectively face."

ALCS membership is open to all types of writers, from novelists, to journalists, to scriptwriters. Lifetime membership costs £36 and is taken from your first payment.

Editors' notes

ALCS 

The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a not-for-profit organisation started by writers for the benefit of all types of writers. Owned by its members, ALCS collects money due for secondary uses of writers' work. It is designed to support authors and their creativity; ensure they receive fair payment and see their rights are respected. It promotes and teaches the principles of copyright and campaigns for a fair deal. It represents over 119,000 members, and since 1977 has paid over £650million to writers.

For more information visit alcs.co.uk

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