Monday, August 09, 2010

ALCS and DACS and a nice quick guide to receiving free money*.



This is a guide is for writers, photographers and artists.
*It's not really free money, it's money you've earned.
Oh, and you also have to live in the UK.

ALCS is the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society. They collect royalties for writers from fees paid by libraries for photocopying and scanning. Royalties come from written work in books, magazines or journals. There is no deadline for books, chapters and scripts but there is for articles – these must have been published within the last three years and they can only be claimed for once.

The deadline is December 31 2010 – so that means that if you’ve had any work published since 2007 you will be eligible for payment.

To claim, simply register on the site. When you are submitting each article you will need the ISBN (bar code number) Title name, Month/year published and number of words.

I file my ALCS information like this:

9771473496034  01 // Photography Monthly // Jan 2008 // 1 pic  // pg 68-69 (Flickr revolution)  // 1500 words

DACS is the Design and Artists Copyright Society. They collect royalties for artists whose work has appeared in UK books, magazines or on Television.

The deadline in 2010 is September 17.

To claim, simply register on the site. There is an easy to follow on-line form here. You must give estimates of how many photos you have had published and in what media. Three exact examples are required. Once you’ve filled the form in you simply update in each subsequent year.

I file my DACS information like this:

9771473496041  07  // Photo Monthly  // July 2008 // 1 pic

For ALCS and DACS, you will be paid money each year. It’ll be a pleasant surprise when you find out how much. More information is available at both websites.

NIOTE: This guide is by no means comprehensive. I’ve written this guide because I found some of the information on the websites to be confusing and sometimes inaccurate (particularly ALCS).

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