Writers join directors in clarifying rights to secondary royalties.
Australian screen content is popular and unique. Our accents, our landscapes, and humour all come together to tell and celebrate individual stories and shape our national identity. From Bluey to Furiosa, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert to McLeod’s Daughters, you know the stories you love – but did you know they are also loved all around the world?
AWGACS does: collecting over $3.1 million in 2023-24 alone, we see who watches what, and where, and we also make sure writers are paid for that use of their work. It’s a critical part of our industry, performed by ASDACS for directors and APRA-AMCOS for composers and songwriters.
To put it all into context: for AWGACS screenwriters, out of $27 million collected over the last 28 years, $22 million has been received from overseas, while $5 million has come in from Australia and New Zealand. Australian content is enjoyed by viewers at home and all around the world.
After a series or film has done its rounds of primary broadcasts, or has had its cinema premiere, it may be used again for secondary purposes. This is where secondary royalties come in.
Secondary royalties are generated from the secondary use of an audiovisual work. In Australia, the Copyright Act designates a right to remuneration to authors from the use of an audiovisual work in educational institutions, government bodies and by retransmitters. Screenrights is the current administrator of this scheme.
Overseas territories have statutory provisions which enforce a royalty to be generated by a number of uses such as digital use, rental/public lending, TV use and by tariffs such as the blank tape levy.
Other Australian and Aotearoa-New Zealand collecting societies such as ASDACS, Screenrights, Copyright Agency and APRA AMCOS also collect and distribute secondary royalties to creators.
Secondary royalties matter, a lot.
Quite simply, secondary royalties support creators to live and work.
“Secondary royalties are essential to support writers between jobs. And the royaltiesscreenwriters receive from AWGACS also help many of them buy the time they need to come up with their next idea – which is often their next job.” – Sam Meikle, screenwriter
Where’s the money?
Australia and New Zealand have unique copyright systems whereby a right to secondary royalties can technically be carved out and assigned away to a third party. Writers’ agreements are part of how this is navigated.
Secondary royalties have changed: here’s what you need to know.
You may recall that in 2020, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) authorised ASDACS to change its constitution around rights assignments for directors.
In December 2023, the ACCC similarly authorised AWGACS to change its constitution making a rights assignment a condition of membership. AWGACS members voted in favour of these amendments in June 2024. From July 2024, screenwriters will have their right to secondary royalties protected and it cannot be assigned away to a third party.
The effect of this change means there is less confusion about who gets what portion of secondary royalties, and Screenrights’ scheme of allocation can be administered effectively.
This means more Australian screen creatives should get the royalties to which they are entitled more efficiently, and will have royalties as part of their support for making the content we – and the world – loves.
Got questions? Call AWGACS on (02) 9319 0339 or email awgacs@awg.com.au
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Since 1996, AWGACS has collected over $27 million for its members from over 25 territories across Europe, the United Kingdom, South America, North America, Australia and Aotearoa-New Zealand.
Membership is free! https://awg.com.au/awgacs