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Film, Television & Audio Funds administered by Equity Distribution Services (EDS)
The Distributions Team issues royalty payments on a monthly basis. There is no set timetable for when different sources of revenue will be distributed. Distribution times for the different types of payments will be determined by when the Distributions Team receives revenue and reporting from broadcasters and producers. Delivery times can vary from year to year.
Collective licence revenues
Collective licence revenues are negotiated by Equity on top of standard network repeat fees. Unlike standard royalties, collective licence payments are administered on the basis of a full year's worth of programming schedules and they are issued annually.
BBC
- BBC iPlayer for programmes available on the iPlayer service.
- BBC cable retransmission for programmes broadcast on BBC One, Two, Three, Four, CBeebies & CBBC and relayed in Belgium, the Netherlands and Republic of Ireland by cable and satellite channels.
- BBC Radio 4Extra for archive spoken word drama, comedy and entertainment programmes broadcast on the BBC's digital radio station.
- BBC Online Clips for short clips of archive programmes available on YouTube
Channel 4
- Channel 4 All4 for programmes available on Channel 4's on-demand and catch-up services.
- Channel 4 cable retransmission for programmes on the main Channel 4 being relayed by cable companies in the Republic of Ireland.
- 4Seven for programmes broadcast on Channel 4's 4Seven channel.
ITV
- ITV Hub for programmes available on ITV's on-demand and catch-up services.
- ITV cable retransmission for programmes broadcast on ITV Ulster and relayed by cable companies in the Republic of Ireland.
Sky
- Sky TV on-demand for programmes available on Sky's on-demand and catch-up services.
Royalty and residual payments
Each year millions of pounds of royalties are secured under the terms of Equity's Cinema Film and PACT Television agreements with studios and production companies. Equity's Contract Enforcement Official carries out rigorous checks to ensure Equity-contracted artists receive all contractual sums due to them. Once funds are cleared for distribution, the Distributions Team process and issue regular monthly payments of royalties and residuals from the sources listed below:
- Cinema feature film royalty payments from studios and film production companies, including MGM, NBC Universal, Warner Brothers, Disney and others;
- PACT TV television royalties from, amongst others, HBO and Sony;
- Cast album recording payments from the Really Useful Group, First Night Records, Sony Music, Warner Music and others.
Monies paid out by EDS since December 2017
The Distributions Team has paid out £65 million to performers since the first distribution of payments in late 2017.
What are collective licence revenues?
Equity negotiates collective licence revenues for Equity-contracted performers under our industrial agreements with national broadcasters to cover additional exploitations of their television work on top of those specified in industrial agreements. Broadcasters pay a blanket annual licence fee to Equity to recompense Equity-contracted artists for programmes carried on video-on-demand services, cable relays outside the UK and/or use of archive catalogues.
Equity undertakes the job of identifying programmes and individual performers for payments and we have devised a fair system for sharing the licence fee revenue between qualifying performers.
How are collective licence payments calculated?
The Distributions Team carries out all work involved in identifying eligible performers, obtaining relevant programme and cast data from broadcasters, and calculating individual performer shares. Equity secures collective licence funds as additional income for performers. Income is supplementary to standard television repeat fees and programmes sales that broadcasters continue to pay in accordance with Equity agreements (more information on the difference between standard royalties and collective licence payments is available in our FAQ).
When are collective licence monies paid out to performers?
Payment dates for collective licence monies are publicised initially on the EDS Twitter feed. Several factors determine payment dates — when the Distributions Team receive complete and accurate programme data from broadcasters, how quickly we can add large volumes of new titles to our programme database, when we have completed verifications of production, performer and agent data and, finally, calculate and apportion payments to individual performers.
Follow @EquityDS for updates on royalty payment dates, work in progress, news about Equity’s ongoing efforts to ensure remuneration for performers when their film, television and audio work is exploited, as well as the latest audio-visual industry news.