While the existing system of multiple agreements with individual producers and broadcasters has held together for a number of years, it is clearly not the most rational way to prepare for the revolutions coming in the digital era.
Equity has approached its negotiations on the future of television with four key principles in mind (see below) but we face serious challenges if we are to apply these principles to future deals. The union has identified four key areas of concern.
PRIMARY PAYMENTS: The primary payment is the fee paid to an artist for making the programme and the initial broadcast of any programme. It is likely that, as broadcasters seek to secure additional uses (simulcast, serial stacking, video on demand) beyond the initial broadcast that more than one type of primary fee will be necessary. We will need to strike a balance between allowing the broadcaster sufficient freedom to exploit any work whilst ensuring that the artist is fairly rewarded.
SECONDARY PAYMENTS: Secondary payments are made to an artist following the sale or subsequent use of their work. We are likely to end up in a mixed economy that sees artists paid through a combination of royalties (payments based on sales), residuals (repeat fees) and collective licencing (lump sums paid for specific uses when royalties either don’t exist or would be onerous to collect).
WORKING ARRANGEMENTS: Although the debate on the impact of new technologies has focused on payments, Equity has not lost sight of the fact that the increased pressure to provide content across a wide array of media can have a detrimental impact on basic working conditions, such as working time and health and safety.
ENFORCEMENT AND MONITORING: With an almost uncountable number of outlets and the relative ease of copying digital material, the potential exists for misrepresentation of sales and distribution of a programme either in error or deliberately by unscrupulous parties. The new regime must be accountable, open to scrutiny and contain measures to ensure that the agreed rules can be enforced.
Equity is aware that successful negotiations on all these areas would be good for our members and good for the industry at as a whole, but we have four core principles that will inform our negotiations and guide the positions we take.