Screenrights has welcomed the assistance of the Federal Court in reaching agreement on a timetable for mediation of the claims made by the Australian Writer’s Guild (AWG) and its collection society AWGACS alleging Screenrights has failed to pay scriptwriters their royalty entitlements.
Screenrights totally rejects those claims and now is hopeful that a mediation process may help provide some clarity around the case which AWG and AWGACS are seeking to bring.
Previous attempts to mediate have been unsuccessful.
Lawyers representing Screenrights and AWG/AWGACS appeared before Justice Jagot this morning for the brief directions hearing and agreed to two separate mediation sessions to occur before 30 September.
The matter has been listed to come back before the Federal Court on 11 October to report on the outcome of the mediation talks and any further steps which may be required to resolve the dispute.
In the meantime, Screenrights will continue to collect and pay royalties on behalf of all its Members in a fair and transparent manner, in accordance with applicable contracts and Australian law.
You can read a fact sheet on the issues here.
