Guilds settle dispute over royalties
Australian Writers’ Guild & Screenrights settle a long-running dispute over fair payment of collected royalties.
- Published by David Knox
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A dispute over royalties between The Australian Writers’ Guild Authorship Collecting Society (AWGACS), Australian Writers’ Guild and Screenrights has been settled following a Federal Court case.
The case stems back to 2016 when the Australian Writers Guild accused not-for-profit group Screenrights of not properly paying screenwriters. At the time profile screenwriters said they had been writing successful Australian television drama for 30 years without payment from Screenrights.
Today all three parties issued a joint statement but without divulging any detail:
The three organisations have entered into a settlement agreement which will see them working together for the benefit of scriptwriters and the industry as a whole.
The parties have jointly welcomed the settlement and are pleased that the dispute has been resolved amicably for the benefit of their stakeholders.
AWGACS, AWG and Screenrights said they looked forward to working together to ensure that the interests of local and international scriptwriters are protected and all rightsholders are paid their entitlements equitably, efficiently and accurately.
The terms of the settlement Deed are confidential and no party will be providing any further public comment on its contents.
The Australian Writers’ Guild is the professional association representing writers for stage, screen, radio and online and has protected and promoted their creative and professional interests for more than 50 years.
Established by the Australian Writers’ Guild in 1996, AWGACS is a not-for-profit collecting society for screenwriters. AWGACS collects and distributes international and domestic royalties for Australian and New Zealand writers.
Screenrights was established in 1990 to administer provisions of the Australian Copyright Act that require educational institutions and government departments to pay royalties for radio and TV programs they use or copy. The organization also collects royalties from pay TV companies who retransmit free-to-air programs.
Last week Screenrights said it had distributed $42.8m to more than 4,400 rights holders in television and radio in the 2017/18 financial year.