March 2026 distribution: What you need to know
Next month, we will pay members in our first and largest distribution of the year. Payments should reach UK bank accounts on or around 25 March.
Important dates for your diary
- If you are due to receive a payment, you will receive an email from us between 23 and 27 March.
- Payments should arrive in UK bank accounts on or around 25 March. Payments to international bank accounts will take longer to arrive.
Will I be paid?
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 between 23 and 27 March.
- A notification in your ALCS online 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 payments are subject to vary each year.
We’re unable to send out any paper statements to members, so when your statement is ready, you’ll need to log in to your online account via the members’ area to access it. If you don’t have an online account, please contact us and we can set one up for you.
Members’ area closure
The members’ area of our website is currently closed as we prepare for the upcoming distribution, and we plan to reopen it on Monday morning (2 March).
Unless the bank account details we hold for you are out of date, this will not affect payments in the upcoming distribution. If you do need to update your bank account details, please get in touch with us before 17:00 on 3 March, as we will be unable to update your details after this point.
We know it can be frustrating when you want to access the members’ area, only to find that it’s unavailable. There are good reasons for us to close it, but we appreciate the inconvenience this can cause.
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 ‘2025-2026’ and you can either:
- download it or
- click to have it emailed to you as a PDF
- To download your statement in PDF format, click on Request Statement Download.
- When your statement is ready for download, the message will change to Download Statement.
- Click on Download Statement and your statement will download (most likely to your computer downloads folder).
- Alternatively, click the option that emails your statement over to you.
MemberShare payments
When viewing your statement, you may notice a new category called MemberShare payments. These payments aren’t new, we are just changing the way they are described and categorised, so that they are more easily understood.
MemberShare payments are calculated by sector (books, scripts and articles) and location (UK, EU and international). These payments are paid equally to all writers in a sector/location. Unlike other payment types, they are not based on usage. MemberShare payments are intended to provide additional financial support to writers.
MemberShare payments aren’t guaranteed. However, if a sector is allocated MemberShare payments, all members with an eligible work of that type will receive a payment. If you have eligible works in more than one sector, you will receive multiple MemberShare payments.
The following sectors will receive MemberShare payments in the upcoming distribution:
- MemberShare payment – Books (UK, EU or International)
- MemberShare payment – Scripts (UK, EU or International)
- MemberShare payment – Books (general)
- MemberShare payment – Audiovisual (general)
