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Equity Distribution Services (EDS)
Equity Distribution Services (EDS) ensure performers receive royalties and other secondary payments arising from the terms of the unions collective agreements.
Funds collected and distributed by EDS, in the region of £10 million per year, are additional to royalties issued by broadcasters and television companies, which are also due under the terms of the union’s agreements. Equity Distribution Services provide a hugely important source of secondary income for those working in film, television and radio. Payments cover:
- cinema film and certain television royalties
- collective licence monies for Equity-contracted performers in
- programmes available on BBC, ITV, Channel Four and Sky online on-demand and catch-up services
- cable retransmission monies for Equity-contracted performers in BBC, ITV and Channel Four channels which are picked up in neighbouring European countries
- collectively negotiated funds for Equity-contracted contributors to radio programmes aired on BBC Radio 4Extra
- royalties for sales of cast album recordings
Which payments does Equity Distribution Services deal with?
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
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.
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.
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).
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.
Royalties
Are you on top of your royalties?
Equity Distribution Services (EDS) collect over £10 million each year in secondary payments that the union negotiates for performers who have been engaged on Equity contracts. EDS payments are additional to the millions of pounds of standard repeats and royalties arising out of union agreements which are handled and paid out by broadcasters and production companies.
As there is no single payment point for royalties, it can be confusing knowing when different types of royalties are due and who is responsible for passing them onto agents and performers. Our FAQ is designed to give performers the advice and information needed to ensure they are never out of pocket when it comes to royalties and secondary payments.
Royalties FAQs
Equity’s Distributions Team deals with a range of royalties and other types of payments for feature films and certain television productions; programmes available online via BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, All4 and Sky TV on demand; cable relays of BBC, ITV and Channel 4 programmes outside the UK; Radio 4Extra archive radio drama; and cast album recordings. These are contractual payments which are usually paid to the agency who represented you at the time of the job. To avoid delays in payments being passed on make sure we have the following details for you:
- Current contact details including email address for statements.
- Banking details for payments for self-represented work.
- VAT certificate or completed self-billingform if you're VAT-registered.
- Name of the agency currently representing you.
New details and updates should be confirmed in writing by email to distributions@equity.org.uk or to our postal address &mdash Equity Distributions, Guild House, Upper St Martin's Lane, London, WC2H 9EG.
Standard industry practice is to pay royalties to the agency who represented you when you did the job — even after you've left that agency and joined a new one. Broadcasters send repeat fees and royalties to the agency listed on your contract of engagement.
It's essential to ensure that all former agencies have your contact and banking details to pass on payments. Confirm your details, ideally by email, with the Accounts Departments of all former agencies you were signed with. Need help contacting a former agency? Let distributions@equity.org.uk know and we’ll assist with locating them.
Unfortunately, there’s no single payment point for all types and sources of secondary payments. Broadcasters and some larger production companies, as well as Equity, run their own in-house artist payment services.
If a former agent ceases trading, make sure the relevant departments of broadcasters, as well as Equity, have your contact and banking details in order for royalties to be paid to you directly.
Contact details for broadcasters can be found on our Enforcing secondary payments page.
I used to receive regular repeats for a programme I worked on but the payments have stopped. How can I find out if I am owed anything?
Royalties for most programmes and productions decrease over time, or eventually dry up, if they're no longer being broadcast or exploited as widely as they used to be. Some programmes, however, continue to earn royalties long after their original release date. The Avengers being one example of a television series still earning royalties 50 years after its first broadcast. Here's what to do to find out if royalties are still being generated for a previous job:
If your query is about payments you used to receive from British Equity Collecting Society (BECS) or from Equity, contact us to find out if we have all your necessary details to pass payments on and to check if anything is being held.
- If your query is about network repeats, transmissions on a digital channel or DVD sales, check with the agency who represented you for the job to ensure they have your current details. Most agencies and broadcasters pay performers by direct bank transfer only. It may simply be a case of supplying your banking details.
- If your agent is no longer trading or if you want confirmation of past payments for network repeats, digital channels or programme sales, requests for information on previous and outstanding royalty amounts can be sent directly to the original broadcaster. Contact details for broadcasters can be found on our Enforcing secondary payments page.
Featured artists engaged on Equity contracts are entitled to payments for programmes shown on secondary channels including, but not limited to, Drama, Dave, Gold, ITV3 and ITV4. A payment will usually become due once the programme has been sold on licence to one of the secondary channel. Once sold to a digital channel, the programme can be shown on the channel multiple times during the agreed licensing period, which varies but is usually for a period of two years.
One payment is therefore issued for a specific licensing period, as opposed to one payment per transmission on the digital channel. Standard practice is for the broadcaster or company currently holding the rights to the programme in question to issue the licensing period payment via the agent who represented you for the job. Featured artists share 17% of the sales price for the programme pro-rated according to their original engagement fee. Queries should therefore be addressed in the first instance to the relevant contractual agent or the original broadcaster that produced the programme. If this does not result in the query being resolved, Equity members can complete a Contract Enforcement Enquiry Form, which can be found in the Contract Enforcement page.
Contact details for broadcasters can be found on our Enforcing secondary payments page.
Walk-on and supporting artists are not due payments for usage on secondary channels.
Depending on the nature of the programme, you will be due an extract fee. Equity has negotiated a range of extract fees for when short clips of up to five minutes are incorporated into programmes such as dramas. Prior consent is not always required but will need to be sought in instances where the clip features sexual content or whereby the actor could face ridicule.
The use of extracts in compilation programmes are compensated for by way of a one-off payment, and the prior consent of the artists must be obtained. The clip/extract fee will be paid to the artist by the company that produced the original programme or the current rights-holder.
Extracts from BBC radio programmes in television programmes are also due a clip use fee, as are extracts from TV programmes used in radio programmes.
If you enter into a contract that signs away your rights ‘in perpetuity, the answer, sadly, is that no royalties will be due. The golden rule is always work on an Equity contract. It is the terms in Equity agreements with broadcasters and producers and Equity artist contracts that guarantee your entitlement to royalty provisions on your audio-visual work.
Equity members can ask for help and advice before signing on the dotted line if in any doubt about terms and clauses in any contract you are offered. Contact us if an Equity contract is not on offer and we will approach the makers of the programme in an attempt to resolve this. In terms of feature films, it used to be standard practice for performers to work on a buy-out in perpetuity basis in films. Equity fought hard to change this.
Since 2002, feature films, from independent low budget to big budget US studio films made in the UK, are produced under Equity’s cinema film agreement. This entitles performers who work on Equity contracts to a share of profits if the film makes a profit, or a share of gross receipts on bigger budget productions. Equity administers film royalties for, amongst others, Disney, MGM, NBC Universal, and Warner Brothers.
Equity is very conscious of the fact that some older film productions currently available to view, stream or download online were made before online services existed. As such, no royalty provisions are included in older contracts to cover online viewing and consumption of feature films. However, in Equity’s opinion this should not preclude performers from being compensated for these additional exploitations of their work.
This is why we have been actively pursuing claims on behalf of Equity-contracted performers in film productions made between 1981 and 2010 to convince producers that the artists are entitled to a share of online revenue receipts. After a series of tough negotiations and, after acquiring the necessary information to lodge claims, performer payments for online exploitations of older film productions will be coming on stream from several major studios. These will be administered by Equity's Distribution Team.
Equity set up British Equity Collecting Society (BECS) almost 20 years ago to ensure that performers in UK-made film and television productions receive a share of statutory rights revenues collected in other European countries.
More information about performers' rights, which are not linked to an artist's original contract of engagement, can be obtained on the BECS website.
If you have followed the advice outlined above but the agent who represented you and the broadcaster or production company who originally made the production have not been able to help, there is another step you can follow. Equity members can access the union's Contract Enforcement Service.
This service exists for members who believe they are owed royalties for a film or television production but no payments have been forthcoming. Members should go to the Contract Enforcement page. Here you can complete a Contract Enforcement Enquiry Form with details about the production. The Enquiry Form will be directed to the relevant specialist Equity Organiser in order to determine what secondary payments are due and, should anything be due, pursue payments on your behalf.
Please refer to our Enforcing secondary payments page for the names and details of organisations that pay out royalties and secondary payments to performers.
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.
Contact details for organisations paying out royalties and secondary payments
A significant volume of royalties and secondary payments for productions made under Equity agreements are handled by broadcasters and production companies. Performers who have been self-represented for any of their film or television work, or who have a former agency that has ceased trading, should ensure that broadcasters and production companies have their up-to-date contact and banking details. Payment histories about previous payments can also be requested from the relevant broadcaster or production company.
All3 Media
Incorporating Bentley Productions.
E: royalty@all3media.com
BBC Contributor Payments
Network repeats, digital channel repeats and commercial exploitations (including dvd sales).
E: bbc_contributorpayments@bbc.zendesk.com
T: 0800 098 8106
Channel 4 Artist Payment Services
Network repeats, digital channel repeats and commercial exploitations (including DVD sales).
E: aps@channel4.co.uk
T: 0345 076 0191
Endemol Shine UK Artist Payments
E:royalties@endemolshineuk.com
T: 020 8222 4312
Equity Distribution Services
Film, cast album recording and BBC 4Extra radio drama royalties; collective licence television payments for catch-up and cable relay services; certain television royalties).
E: distributions@equity.org.uk
T: 020 7670 0206
Fremantle Media Artiste Payments
E: info.artistepayment@fremantlemedia.com
T: 020 7691 6000
ITV Talent Payments
Repeats on the main ITV channel.
E: tps@itv.com
Repeats on all other channels and commercial exploitations (including dvd sales).
E: royalties@itv.com
T: 0161 952 1910
STV Artist Payments