Meeting our members in Edinburgh

The reception gave ALCS members based in Scotland an opportunity to find out more about the work that we do, meet fellow writers and hear how we are championing authors’ rights through our advocacy work.

CEO Barbara Hayes spoke on the history of ALCS, reminding us that our roots began in political campaigning for ‘no use without payment’, a sentiment as relevant today with the changing digital markets as it was in 1977. In the face of significant challenges to writers, our history serves as an important reminder that ALCS will continue to support, champion and fight for your rights.

“Artificial intelligence will profoundly change the sector in the coming years, and we will be working closely with our partners and stakeholders to ensure AI supports rather than undermines human creativity. To this end, we have published a set of principles to guide future policy in a way that continues to respect the rights of authors.”

Pete Wishart MP, Vice-Chair of the All Party Writers Group, spoke on how integral writers are to the entire ecosystem of the creative industries. He offered his support for our campaign to fix it for freelancers with the appointment of a Freelancer Commissioner to government.

“The self-employed in the writing sector are often overlooked by governments and policy. We know that Creative Scotland have done a report and investigation into the work of freelancers and the Scottish Government at this stage are trying to ensure that these recommendations are implemented.

ALCS is absolutely right, we need to collaborate here with the UK Government. I think the Commissioner that is being asked for freelancers is exactly the right thing we need to do. A dedicated voice in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport that the self-employed writing community can go to and ensure their concerns are taken forward. I think we should all get behind the campaign to ensure we do get that figure of representation.”

The reception was a fantastic opportunity to meet members in person and hear their concerns, following our members reception in Birmingham last month.

We are currently gathering evidence to support our campaign to fix it for freelancers, so if you have previously worked as a freelance journalist please complete this 10 minute survey. Also, if you want to share your experience as a freelancer please email advocacy@alcs.co.uk