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ITALY. Venice. 1990 by Martin Parr
© Martin Parr/Magnum Photos.
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Did you know that as an artist or visual creator you could be eligible for a share of £3 million of royalties? StudioDACS speaks to Payback Manager Nik Watkins-Wright about why every visual creator needs to know about Payback.
Nik, tell us... what is Payback?
Each year DACS pays a share of collective licensing revenue to artists and visual creators through a service called Payback. So if your work has been reproduced in a UK book or magazine or on certain UK television channels you can make a claim.
Sounds good, when does this year's Payback campaign begin?
Payback 2009 launched at the beginning of July so you can start claiming now! Last year we paid nearly £3 million to thousands of visual creators. The average payment to an individual was £236.
Where does the money come from?
A variety of sources, the main one being the CLA (Copyright Licensing Agency). This organisation sells photocopying licenses to schools, universities, business etc, each year. DACS receives a share of this revenue and then shares it out amongst visual creators who make a claim.
Eh?
Think of it this way. If a student at university wants to photocopy some of your work in their university library. As the creator of the work, you are entitled to a royalty for this 'secondary use'. Now, the student is not going to contact you, whilst stood by the photocopier and ask for your permission to do so because that is nigh on impossible and would be very time consuming. Instead Payback works on the basis of that if a publication exists with your work in it, then it is available to be photocopied.
What work could you claim for?
If any of your work has been published in a UK book or magazine (with an ISBN/ISSN) at any time, you can claim for this (provided you have retained the copyright). This applies to every kind of visual creator (illustrator, photographer, cartoonist, fine artist etc) and whether it is one work appearing in one book or thousands of images appearing in thousands of books, they are still valid.
Is there anything you cannot claim for?
You cannnot claim for artistic work which is out of copyright at the time of use. Also you cannot currently claim for work in newspapers or their supplements, neither publications without an ISBN/ISSN.
How do you make a television claim?
Television claims differ from publication claims. Firstly, there is no back-dating for television claims. You can only claim for work from the previous year, so 2008 in this instance. Television claims also only cover the 5 terrestrial and 8 BBC digital channels. The money for television claims comes from Educational Recording Agency (ERA), Irish Cable, and the BBC.
What is the best way to make a claim?
You can claim online at www.dacs.org.uk. By claiming online it will make it easier for you to claim next year as all you will have to do is log-in, add new works and update your details. Alternatively you can choose to fill out a paper claim form and return it to us at the freepost address printed on the form.
Do you need to be a member of DACS to claim Payback?
No, you don't need to be a member. Any artist or visual creator can claim Payback but if you want to join DACS for Payback membership then you can also do that too.
Is there a charge for this service?
We make an administrative charge of 23% on the revenue we receive and this fee goes straight back into running this service. What's more, since Payback 2007 we have reduced this charge from 25% and we will continue to do so.
Ok, that all seems pretty simple. What now?
Phone, email or visit our website to get hold of this year's claim form. Just remember you have until 30 September to submit your claim - don't forget!
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