Writers’ Representatives
INFORMATION FOR AGENTS, ESTATES, SOA and WGGB members and PUBLISHERS
AGENTS
ALCS collects and distributes royalty fees that can only be administered effectively on a collective basis. Last year ALCS distributed over £16.74 million net to writers.
The society is committed to ensuring that the rights of writers, both intellectual property and moral, are fully respected and fairly rewarded, and wishes to work alongside writers’ representatives to ensure that this occurs.
We recommend that all agents urge their clients to join ALCS in order to receive any further royalties that may be due to them.
If you are an agent and are interested in registering your clients with ALCS then this can be done in one of the following ways:
- Membership forms can be downloaded from this site. These will need to be signed by your client and returned to ALCS at the address provided.
- You can direct your client to this site so that they may register for membership themselves online.
- You can contact the ALCS office for further information, and for pre-printed registration packs.
You are not able to sign the application for membership form on behalf of your clients, but we would recommend that you pass them on to any clients you think appropriate.
Payments may be made to you on behalf of your clients or direct to the author. As a membership organisation working on behalf of writers we unequivocally respect the choice of our members as to where their payments are made.
If you have any matters you would like to discuss with us, please contact our Membership Services Department.
ESTATES
ALCS represents living writers’ and the estates of those whose works are still covered by copyright protection. Copyright in the UK lasts for 70 years after the death of an author. ALCS currently distributes royalties to successors as representatives, as they are legally entitled to remuneration for use of the writer’s work.
ALCS collects money for an estate in the same way as it would for a living writer. It does not act as a literary executor for an estate.
To register an estate with ALCS the following information is needed from the executor and or beneficiary:
- A completed and signed copy of the estate registration form which must be returned to the ALCS office
- A copy of the grant of probate, or relevant clause of the will, stating to whom any royalties should be paid.
Unfortunately, successors to an estate are unable to register using the online service on this site.
ALCS can pay multiple beneficiaries of an estate; however, it is recommended that, wherever possible, one representative is elected (in consultation with all representatives concerned) for contact and payment purposes.
Please contact our Membership Services Department with any questions that you may have.
SOCIETY OF AUTHORS AND WRITERS’ GUILD OF GREAT BRITAIN MEMBERS
Current, full members of the Society of Authors (SoA) and the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) are entitled to join ALCS as Ordinary Members for free.
If you are a member of the SoA or WGGB, but have not yet taken advantage of the offer to become a free Ordinary Member of ALCS, please either click here to move to our online registration section or download the forms and return them to us.
Both the Society and the Guild urge you to take advantage of this right. Please look at our sections on eligibility and the benefits of membership for further information. Alternatively, contact our Membership Services Department who will be happy to help you with any queries you may have.
PUBLISHERS
ALCS last year paid £16.74 million to writers across all genres, a large percentage of which came from the CLA’s photocopying licensing scheme. ALCS is responsible for distributing the writers’ share of any revenue collected through this scheme, while our partner organisation, the Publishers Licensing Society (PLS), distributes the publishers' share.
We would urge all publishers, especially those registered with the PLS, to encourage authors to join ALCS so that they are effectively represented for the collective licensing of works and are in receipt of the royalties due to them.
If you have not currently mandated PLS, we would suggest that you contact them and see how the scheme can benefit you as well as the writers you publish.