September 2023 distribution: What you need to know

The second distribution of 2023 is almost here. We’ll run through everything you need to know.

Will I be paid?

Most members won’t be paid in this distribution, we are paying less than a third of the members that were paid in March. If we have collected money for your works, you will receive:

• An email to let you know your statement is ready to download. This will arrive in your inbox around 25 – 29 September.
• A notification in your ALCS account letting you know there’s a new statement available

If you don’t receive an email and no notification appears in your account, you have not received a payment this time. It’s worth remembering that we receive money from different income streams at different times of the year, so what’s included in each distribution isn’t necessarily the same each year. The March distribution will include payments for articles claims, so journalists, that’s when you’re likely to be paid (if you’ve made an eligible claim).

We’re unable to send out any paper statements to members, so you’ll need to log in to your online account to access yours. If you don’t have an online account, please contact us and we can set up one for you.

Why haven’t I been paid?

We pay members twice a year. The money we pay out in September is predominantly for retransmissions of audiovisual work, photocopying of books in the education and government sectors, and payments for visual contributions. This is the smaller of the two distributions, and most members only receive a payment in March. If you are owed royalties for other types of work, you can expect payment in our next distribution in March 2024.

How will I view my statement?

If you are due a payment in this distribution, you will receive an email letting you know that you can download your statement.

You will find your statement in your account in the folder marked ‘2023-2024’ and you can either:

• download it or
• click to have it emailed to you as a PDF

1. To download your statement in PDF format, click on Request Statement Download.
2. When your statement is ready for download, the message will change to Download Statement.
3. Click on Download Statement and your statement will download (most likely to your computer downloads folder).
4. Alternatively, click the option that emails your statement over to you.

Why do you close the members area?

We know it can be frustrating when you want to access the members’ area only to find that it’s closed.

When we regularly close the members’ area ahead of a distribution, we are looking at the data we have – to make calculations which ensure everyone gets paid as accurately as possible.

There’s a good reason for the closures, but we know that it’s far from ideal and it is something that we’re working on improving, so please bear with us. We try to provide an accurate an idea of how long this will take, and it is a good idea to follow us on X (formerly known as Twitter) for the most up to date information.

Where does the money come from?

We collect secondary royalties owed to our members from over 100 sources around the world. The September distribution is primarily for scriptwriter members and includes money from LIRA (Netherlands), the Educational Recording Agency (UK), SACD (France) and AuthorShare.

You can find an overview of our main sources of income in the below video.

Alternatively, you can read about where the money comes from in this article. You can find a complete list of our income sources for this distribution here.