Pay the Creator
The Creators’ Rights Alliance is calling for better business practices in the commissioning and care of creative freelancers, who are vital contributors to the UK’s creative industries, economy, culture and to societal wellbeing.
Too often creators are offered ‘exposure’ or ‘experience’ in place of payment for their work, time and rights (e.g. intellectual property rights). Yet creative freelancers are a cornerstone of our economy. They make up around a third of the 2.4 million people working in the creative industries, and contribute important creativity, knowledge, and expertise. Without their work, our books, films, magazines, television, theatres and music venues would be empty. “About half of my invoices to festivals, magazines, etc go unpaid until I have followed up and queried. Several of these haven't been paid a year after the invoice was issued.”
Chasing low and late payments is a regular activity for freelance creators.Poor payment practices mean that often only those who come from backgrounds where they are financially supported can sustain a career in the creative industries. For many others, their chance to sustain a living from their creative work is much more limited. This poor practice sets back any progress towards the inclusive industries that we all want to see. Budgets may be tighter than ever, but creators must be paid on time for the professional work they are commissioned to do and the rights they grant. Payments and terms should reflect the skills and contributions they bring to each project.-
Around a third of people working in the creative industries are freelancers. This is double the level of self-employment than in the wider economy. In some sectors of the creative industries - like music - this proportion reaches 90%.
Creative freelancers are the bedrock of the creative industries on which other businesses rely. They provide important creativity, knowledge and expertise. Poor payment practice is widespread and became more prevalent during the COVID pandemic. It can include:
Payment in kind: for ‘exposure’ or ‘experience’, a lunch or drinks in place of financial payment for the work and rights is common.
Low pay: reducing fees and low pay which is devaluing creators’ work, time and skills.
Late payments: with creators having to repeatedly chase for their invoices to be paid.
Poor business practices: project timeline delays are common, meaning that payment is pushed back, sometimes by months or years, or cancelled.
This situation is exacerbated by the transfer of value away from creators and towards entities like social media platforms that do not pay remuneration. This is particularly important for image rightsholders who are losing out. Social media platforms on the other hand are earning billions of dollars by leveraging creators' content against advertising fees.
Copyright infringement on these platforms, and across the internet, for online commercial use remains rife, which adds to the financial deficit freelancers face.
The increasing expectation of content for free, combined with poor business practices, make sustaining a career in the creative industries unnecessarily precarious.
In a post-Brexit, post-pandemic world, we must ensure that human creativity and intellectual property assets are protected, to ensure that th UK’s creative industries can continue to thrive.
“TV and radio are repeat offenders, and make it so difficult to get paid - even for expenses - that I have stopped expecting them to, and always ask for rail tickets up front. They also routinely fail to pay VAT, which needs to be claimed with a different invoice and through a different department. I have several outstanding invoices for this, some dating back years.”
Collective action
Through our Pay the Creator campaign we bring together all our members’ campaigns under one simple banner to help spread our collective message even wider.
CRA member organisations campaign tirelessly on fair pay and conditions for creators. Click the links below to find out more about our members' live campaigns on creator pay - including actions you can take like signing petitions.
Musician's Union:
Equity:
How you can help
There are many other ways you - either as an organisation or individual - can support better pay for creators:Download the Pay the Creator logo or giff below and use them in your email signature, website and newslettersUse #PayTheCreator on your social media feeds to highlight the best and worst in pay and contract practicesTell us about campaigns you’re running so we can share themContact us with case studies so we can highlight how these practices are affecting creators
Members and Partners that support this campaign
Association of British Science Writers (ABSW)
Association of Authors' Agents (AAA)
Association of British Science Writers (ABSW)
Association of Illustrators (AOI)
Association of Photographers (AOP)
Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS)
British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies (BAPLA)
British Equity Collecting Society (BECS)
British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP)
Chartered Institute of Journalists (CIJ)
Contemporary Visual Arts Network England (CVAN)
Crime Writers’ Association (CWA)
DACS (Design and Artists Copyright Society)
Directors UK
Equity
Features Artists Coalition (FAC)
Freelancer Club
Garden Media Guild (GMG)
Independent Society of Musicians (ISM)
Ivors Academy
Music Managers’ Forum (MMF)
Musicians Union (MU)
National Union of Journalists (NUJ)
New Zealand Society of Authors Te Puni Kaituhi O Aotearoa (PEN NZ) Inc
Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild (OWPG)
Personal Managers' Association (PMA)
Picture Industry Collecting Society for Effective Licensing (PICSEL)
Producers and Composers of Applied Music (PCAM)
Professional Cartoonists' Organisation (PCO)
Royal Photographic Society (RPS)
Royal Society of Literature
Society of Artists’ Agents (SAA)
Society of Authors (SOA)
Writers Guild of Great Britain (WGGB)