YEAR IN REVIEW
2024-25
Key Highlights .............................................................. 2
Message from the Screenrights Chair ........................... 3
Message from the Chief Executive ................................ 5
Collections and Distributions ........................................ 8
Membership ................................................................. 9
Licence Usage Data .................................................... 10
Industry Services ....................................................... 11
Expenditure ................................................................ 12
Digital Transformation ................................................ 13
Screen Industry Support ............................................. 14
CONTENTS
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
• Through our licence schemes, Screenrights distributed a record
$42.6 million to our members
• Usage of the Australian Educational Licence grew once again,
and usage records were up 32% when compared with FY24
• Growth in the Educational Licences in both Australia and
Aotearoa New Zealand continued to offset the decline in
Retransmission Licence income, contributing to another
record year of $50.2 million in licence revenue
• Screenrights launched our very first Reconciliation Action Plan
[Reflect RAP], committing to finding new opportunities to work
with Indigenous peoples and organisations, and to building
awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures,
histories, knowledge and leadership across the organisation
• The 2024 Screenrights Cultural Fund awarded $289k to
6 initiatives fostering the creation and appreciation of screen
content in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand
Image Credits:
Queens of Concrete – Concrete Dreams
Sunflower - Pancake Originals
Our Medicine – Periscope Pictures
SCREENRIGHTS YEAR IN REVIEW 2023–2024 | 2
3 | SCREENRIGHTS YEAR IN REVIEW 2024–2025
MESSAGE FROM THE SCREENRIGHTS CHAIR
Kim Dalton Chair
In the 2024/25 financial year, Screenrights distributed a record $42.6 million to our members. We are
proud to report another record year, but the significance goes beyond the numbers: it demonstrates
that our members’ content continues to be highly valued by users, such as school teachers and
students who benefit from our licences. This also reaffirms the vital role of copyright in protecting
creators and rightsholders, ensuring they are fairly compensated for the use of their work.
The success of Screenrights’ licences, like those of the
other copyright collecting societies in Australia, shows that
collective licensing can be an effective way to allow content
to be used without infringing copyright, when individual
licensing is not practical. This is the approach that
Screenrights is taking, alongside the broader screen and
creative industries, in response to copyright infringement
by generative AI technology. Content used by multinational
tech companies for AI training and outputs can be licensed,
and a range of licences being negotiated around the world
demonstrates that copyright does not need to be set aside
to benefit from advancements in AI.
Screenrights opposed the idea that a text and data mining
(TDM) exception was necessary for these technologies to
succeed and we are very pleased that in October the
Attorney-General definitively ruled out a TDM exception.
This is a starting point for copyright owners in Australia to
manage their copyright with AI companies. Some rightsholders
can deal with the tech companies individually but others will
not have the capacity to do so and Screenrights is ready to
support rightsholders and organisations that may not be able
to negotiate licences on their own. We will continue to advocate
for our members in this area as part of the Attorney-General’s
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence Reference Group.
Another key area of advocacy for Screenrights is modernising
the Australian Educational Licence, to ensure that content
shown by broadcasters through their streaming services can
be accessed by educators without breaching copyright. We
continue to work with the Australian Government on this. We
are also working with the government in Aotearoa New Zealand,
to expand the reach of the NZ Educational Licence to progress
equitable access for students across all socio-economic
demographics.
We welcome the Attorney-General’s ongoing interest in the
outcomes of the Copyright Roundtables, and Screenrights
remains an active participant in these discussions, supporting
the need for reform. We appreciate the continued support of
our members and stakeholders as we work through these
important issues.
Kim Dalton, Screenrights Chair
29 October 2025
SCREENRIGHTS YEAR IN REVIEW 2024–2025 | 4
We are proud to report
another record year, but the
significance goes beyond
the numbers: it demonstrates
that our members’ content
continues to be highly valued.
Image Credits:
Invisible Boys – Feisty Asphodel. Photo: David Dare Parker
Songs Inside – Songs Inside Pty Ltd
5 | SCREENRIGHTS YEAR IN REVIEW 2024–2025
While we work to grow the NZ educational licence for the mutual
benefit of learners and creators, the growth in collections from
the Australian educational licence is in line with CPI. Looking
over the last few years of annual reporting since the pandemic,
we have known for some time now that the surging usage of
the licence has not slowed. Screenrights’ view is that the value
of the licence to educators in Australia is evidenced by the
extraordinary, sustained growth in usage records. With the total
collection pool remaining the same (aside from adjustments
for inflation), this means that the amounts paid out to individual
copyright owners for each use of their content become smaller.
We feel that it’s only fair for licence fees to increase to recognise
this increase in value, and that is a discussion we’ll be having
on behalf of our members over the coming 12 months as we
renegotiate the licence.
Screenrights will always push for fair remuneration for
rightsholders alongside easy access to valuable educational
screen content for our licensees. As part of our commitment to
paying distributions to our members efficiently, securely, and
accurately, we continue to upgrade our internal systems and have
made further progress with our ongoing digital transformation,
equipping us to handle ever-higher volumes of data. This year
alone usage data has grown 32%. Our IT investment over the past
few years has allowed us to cope with this growth. Our systems
are better equipped now to handle the growth in data, but we still
have more work to do.
In other good news, Screenrights launched our very first
Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) on 4 June 2025, committing to
contributing towards reconciliation wherever we can through our
business operations and extended networks. We encourage you
to read about what our Reflect RAP will entail over the coming
months here and we’d love to hear from you about your RAP
experiences too.
Screenrights’ 5,200+ members now represent more than 143,000
rightsholders from 73 countries. We welcome all members and
those in the broader screen industry to come and use our office
spaces in Warrang, The Rocks, when you’re in town for writers’
rooms, creative meetings, or for hotdesking.
And in FY25 we were delighted to award $289k to six fantastic
new initiatives through last year’s grant round of the Screenrights
Cultural Fund, which continues to support projects that enrich
the creation and appreciation of screen content in Australia and
Aotearoa New Zealand. Last but not least, we are again fully
compliant with the voluntary Code of Conduct for Collecting
Societies in Australia, and have met its standards in the latest
independent annual review.
You can find more financial detail in our Annual Report which will
be available on our website once it has been tabled in Parliament.
James Dickinson, Chief Executive
29 October 2025
MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
James Dickinson Chief Executive
Screenrights is proud to report a record year in licensing and distribution once again, with collections
reaching $50.2 million and distributions totaling $42.6 million in the financial year to 30 June 2025. While
Australian retransmission licensing revenue continues to decline, as forecast, our educational licences
remain hugely valuable to teachers and students with growth in both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
6 | SCREENRIGHTS YEAR IN REVIEW 2024–2025
As part of our commitment to
paying distributions to our
members efficiently, securely,
and accurately, we continue to
upgrade our internal systems
and have made further progress
with our ongoing digital
transformation, equipping us
to handle ever-higher volumes
of data.
Image Credits:
Songs Inside – Songs Inside Pty Ltd
Thou Shalt Not Steal – Ludo
Invisible Boys – Feisty Asphodel. Photo: David Dare Parker
SCREENRIGHTS YEAR IN REVIEW 2024–2025 | 7
Image Credits:
L: Welcome to Babel – Mayfan Films. Photo: Greg Weight | Top -bottom R: Songs Inside – Songs Inside Pty Ltd
Our Medicine – Periscope Pictures | Invisible Boys – Feisty Asphodel. Photo: David Dare Parker
8 | SCREENRIGHTS YEAR IN REVIEW 2024–2025
COLLECTIONS AND DISTRIBUTIONS
Screenrights had a record year for licence revenue and distribution under our combined licence schemes in 2024/25. While income under the Retransmission Licence continues
to decline, the Australian Educational Licence continues to grow, although not as fast as usage is growing. The amount Screenrights distributed to our members reached a record
high of $42.6 million.
FIGURE 1 Licence revenue 2022/23 to 2024/25
Australian Educational Service [AES]
Australian Retransmission Service [ARS]
Australian Government Service [AGS]
NZ Educational Service [NZES]
$50.2m
$46.4m
$4.6m
Another record year for licensing and distribution
FIGURE 2 Amount distributed to members each year 2022/23 to 2024/25, and breakdown by
licence scheme type
2023/24 2024/252022/23
36.8m
5.7m
1.2m
2.7m
39.2m
5.2m
1.3m
2.9m
41.1m
4.8m
1.2m
3.1m
2022/23 2023/24
2024/25
$41.8m$40.3m
$42.6m
30.3m
7.0m
0.9m
2.1m
32.7m
5.2m
1.2m
2.7m
34.3m
4.6m
1.1m
2.6m
Australian Educational Service [AES]
Australian Retransmission Service [ARS]
Australian Government Service [AGS]
NZ Educational Service [NZES]
SCREENRIGHTS YEAR IN REVIEW 2024–2025 | 9
We admitted 151 new members in 2024/25, and while some memberships have lapsed, we now have over 5,200 current members from 73 countries as of June 2025. Our database now
holds over 1.67 million active registrations of members’ rights in programs.
Image Credits: Thou Shalt Not Steal – Ludo | Queens of Concrete – Concrete Dreams | Sunflower – Pancake Originals
MEMBERSHIP
More active registrations of members’ programs
FIGURE 4 Membership numbers 2022/23 to 2024/25, and breakdown by member type
2023/24
2022/23
5,3095,150 5,205
Australian members
New Zealand members
International members
2024/25
FIGURE 3 Active registrations of members’ rights in programs, 2022/23 to 2024/25
2023/24
2022/23
2024/25
1.61m
1.52m
1.67m
2,768
452
1,985
2,793
443
2,073
2,725
425
2,000
10 | SCREENRIGHTS YEAR IN REVIEW 2024–2025
Feature Film 26.9%
Documentary 17.5%
Factual 15.5%
Children’s Series 11.8%
News & Current Affairs 8.4%
Dedicated Educational 3.8%
Comedy Series 3.5%
Light Entertainment 3.2%
Drama Series 3.0%
Mini-Series/Telemovie 2.1%
Short 1.6%
Reality Television 1.6%
Other 1.1%
Demand for access under our Educational Licences continues to surge
LICENCE USAGE DATA
FIGURE 6 Share of copies made for different types of content at Australian
Educational Institutions
Usage under Screenrights’ Educational Licences continues to see strong growth, resulting in the collection of over 40 million records in 2024/25, an increase of 32% on the previous year.
FIGURE 5 Total number of raw usage records for the Australian Educational Licence,
2020/21 to 2024/25
40,039,47623,244,864 30,354,48717,744,202 18,861,371
2024/25
2022/23 2023/242020/21 2021/22
11 | SCREENRIGHTS YEAR IN REVIEW 2024–2025
Total collections through our Collection Account Management and Disbursements services were down again in 2024/25, due to the variability of the performance of film and TV projects,
and reduced funding and production activity overall. At $2.01 million, collections from our Royalties World service were down from the previous year’s record high of $2.3 million but
consistent with long-term trends.
INDUSTRY SERVICES
Worldwide royalties and local Collection Accounts are down, reflecting industry volatility
FIGURE 7 Total collections through our CAM, Disbursements and Residuals services
$3,733,000
$7,012,000
$5,485,000
FIGURE 8 Screenrights Royalties World 2024/25 collections breakdown by territory
2023/24
2019/20
2020/21
2021/22
**
2022/23
*
2024/25
$5,401,000
$6,943,000
$5,800,000
$2.0
million
*
CAM service commenced in 2022/23
**
RES service commenced in 2021/22
Netherlands
Belgium
Sweden
Denmark
Finland
Canada
France
Switzerland
Poland
Other Countries
Image Credits: Sunflower – Pancake Originals | Invisible Boys – Feisty Asphodel. Photo: David Dare Parker | Our Medicine – Periscope Pictures
SCREENRIGHTS YEAR IN REVIEW 2024–2025 | 12
Continuing our investment in necessary upgrades
FIGURE 10 Overall expenditure to collections ratio, 2022/23 to 2024/25FIGURE 9 Breakdown of Expenditure for 2024/25
EXPENDITURE
16.9%
2022/23
16.7%
2023/24
In 2024/25 we continued to invest in our digital transformation as we manage the increasing amounts of data processed by our systems. This includes an investment in our people, with
17 of 39 [44%] staff members dedicated to this project. As we keep an eye on the cost of these crucial upgrades, our Expenses to Collections ratio has increased from 2023/24.
17.5%
2024/25
Employee Related
$ 6,400,000
Operating Expenses
$ 1,194,000
Information Technology
$ 773,000
Legal
$ 642,000
Licensing
$ 592,000
Travel
$ 52,000
Promotions/ Marketing
$ 40,000
Other
$ 15,000
$9.7
million
Image Credit: Our Medicine – Periscope Pictures
SCREENRIGHTS YEAR IN REVIEW 2024–2025 | 13
Screenrights’ ongoing digital transformation is delivering new systems for our new environment.
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Working through our roadmap to improve security, control, transparency and more
FIGURE 11 New and upcoming features on the Screenrights platform
Streamlined Membership Application:
New members will benefit from a
guided application process to
help ensure the appropriate legal
entity applies for membership
and to reduce the number of
questions and delays in the
application process.
Single Customer Platform:
All members and industry services
clients will be able to access their
title information for all services from
a single platform. We’re consolidating
MyScreenrights and screenrights.app
to improve the user experience and
deliver a best-in-class royalty
payouts platform.
New Look Corporate Website:
Our company website is getting
a facelift to best represent the
work we do to support our
members and licensees.
Royalty Processing Engine:
This behind-the-scenes
capability is our second crucial
royalty infrastructure project
after the Data Processing Engine,
to handle increasing volumes
of data.
Statement Generation Engine:
Members can expect new-look
royalty statements summarising
payouts by title to make
reconciliation and reporting
easier.
Coming soon:
Banking Control
Scale Out:
We've transitioned all
of our members across
to best practice banking
controls and secure
storage.
Payout Release
Engine Scale Out:
All members can now
select to be paid in the
currency of their choice
and payouts across all
our services are being
made across the world
via our integrated
payout network.
Collection Account
Reporting:
We’ve updated our
collection account
reports reflecting GST
reporting requirements
for producers and
beneficiaries.
Activity Tracking:
We’re tracking all changes
to memberships and
titles on our platform for
administrators to see
change history.
Teams & Access:
Members can add team
members, control their
access level and specify
who in their business
should receive different
communications relating
to their membership.
Data Processing
Engine:
The upcoming release of
new royalties in December
will be based on usage
records processed on
our new back-of-house
technology platform.
This significantly
reduced technology risks
associated with growth in
licence usage.
SECURITY EFFICIENCY COMPLIANCE CONTROL STABILITYTRANSPARENCY
14 | SCREENRIGHTS YEAR IN REVIEW 2024–2025
SCREEN INDUSTRY SUPPORT
Screenrights continued our advocacy work around copyright and AI in Australia and
Aotearoa New Zealand, including submissions:
• Response to the Australian Government Productivity Commission’s Questionnaire
regarding Pillar 3: Harnessing data and digital technology [6 June 2025]
• Response to AMPLIFY A Creative and Cultural Strategy for New Zealand
[12 December 2024]
• Response to Orphan Works Scheme – Design Options [27 September 2024]
We also continue our work with the Attorney-General of Australia through the new
government’s portfolio changes to update the Copyright Act in ways that preserve the
remit of the Australian Educational Licence as transmission moves from traditional
broadcasting to online.
The 2024 Screenrights Cultural Fund awarded $288,654 to 6 initiatives meeting the annual
focus of Big Issues: Creative Solutions:
→
Pilbara and Kimberley Aboriginal Media (PAKAM) for their Remote Indigenous Media
Content on local WiFi Mesh Servers project to utilise systems rolled out in remote
Indigenous communities by the West Australian Government and Australian Private
Networks as a pioneering distribution platform for culturally relevant audiovisual
content;
→
Pacific Islands Screen Artists (PISA) for Pacific Islands Cultural Guidance for Screen
Productions, evaluating productions’ cultural needs, connecting them with suitable
individuals and communities while preserving the mana of Pacific Islands cultures and
ensuring cultural authenticity and inclusivity in screen productions;
→
Maselli Films ‘ Women in Water: Creating Pathways for Female Surf and Underwater
Cinematographers 16-week training program for emerging female cinematographers
with a background in surfing, life saving, or strong swimming skills and whose work
focuses on water videography;
→
Cheeky Little Media, whose Western Sydney Animation Talent Incubator unearths
talent from Western Sydney and develops a new wave of animation practitioners;
→
Creative Plus Business to run an educational program designed to empower
filmmakers from under-represented sectors in the screen industry to build sustainable
production enterprises that focus on social change both on and off-screen through their
Social Enterprise for Screen initiative; and
→
Screenworks for their First Nations Pathways into the Writers Room program in
partnership with the Australian Writers’ Guild, addressing under representation of
First Nations screenwriters by providing training in note-taking and script coordination
which are proven pathways to screenwriting careers.
Image Credits:
Thou Shalt Not Steal – Ludo
Queens of Concrete – Concrete Dreams
