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Do you think you’re owed royalties for a film or television production?
Equity recognises that our members' performances are central to the success of a production and we are committed to fighting for your right to fair compensation for your creative contribution.
Our collectively bargained agreements in film and television include provision for Equity performers to participate in a production's ongoing commercial success. In feature film, this right was introduced in 2002 and comes in the form of either a royalty (a percentage of gross receipts after the expiration of defined pre-purchased periods), or a net profit share reported through an independent collection agent. In television and made for new media productions, you may be entitled to a royalty (as above) or a residual (a percentage of your original fee).
Payments are not guaranteed, but the structure ensures that you are rewarded financially for the role you play in making a production successful. This success may derive from various uses of your performance including television broadcasts, DVD sales and on new media platforms across the globe.
Negotiating these terms is only the beginning and Equity works hard to enforce your contractual rights. A key example of this is our audits of the US major studios. Through this process we have recovered more than $15 million for Equity performers.
In addition to monies recovered through the audit process, Equity monitors, enforces and collects millions of pounds in royalties and similar payments every year across hundreds of productions. These are sent out via Equity's Distribution Services.
How will you know if you are owed money?
We will notify you when payment is due and send the payment to the nominated payee, as instructed by the applicable production company. This will usually be your agent at the time of the engagement. If we do not receive information about who your agent was for a particular production, we may have to issue payments to you or to the current agent listed on our system.
Therefore, please be sure to notify our Distributions team if you switch agents or if your banking details change. You can do this by emailing updates to distributions@equity.org.uk.
We will not notify you if no monies are payable. However, if you are a member of Equity and believe that you are entitled to a royalty or similar payment, we are happy to investigate for you. Fill out the form below which will be forwarded to the relevant specialist Organiser for investigation and further action.