news flash
May 2010
Australian Independent Screen Production Submission
Screenrights is a non-profit copyright collecting society administering the statutory licences in Part VA and VC, and section 183 of the Copyright Act, 1968. These licences allow for certain uses of film and television, provided a royalty is paid to the rightsholders.
These royalties are an important source of revenue for the production industry. In 2008/09, our total collections were $34.0 million. Australian educational use of audiovisual material (the Part VA licence), accounted for $23.9 million of this total. During this period, more than 60% of the money we distributed was paid to Australian rightsholders.
OUR SUBMISSION
Screenrights would like to take this opportunity to comment briefly on two initiatives assisting the independent sector to maximise the benefit of Screenrights royalties. These are:
- Production of Study Guides for Screen Australia funded documentaries
Screen Australia supports the production of study guides for Australian documentaries by requiring all projects they fund to include a budget provision for the production of a guide. Screenrights makes these guides available on EnhanceTV (www.enhancetv.com.au), its online resource centre for educators. We currently have 450 guides available, with approximately 25,000 guides downloaded each year.
These guides assist teachers in using programs in class. Anecdotal evidence tells us that this increases the likelihood of a program being copied, generating Screenrights royalties for the producer and other rightsholders.
Screenrights applauds Screen Australia’s ongoing support for the production of study guides as an important initiative that supports the industry.
- Entitlement to Screenrights royalties
In its recently released Terms of Trade, Screen Australia stated that for all production investment approved after 1 January 2009, it will cease the practice of requiring that Screenrights revenue form part of Screen Australia’s gross receipts. As a result, Screenrights royalties directly support the production industry.
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you would like further information about either of these initiatives or other aspects of our operations, please contact Simon Lake, Chief Executive.
