It's currently not possible to make ALCS claims for The People's Friend and My Weekly. This is because 'DC Thomson have moved their mandate from the Publishers Licensing Society to the Newspaper Licensing Agency.' This applies not just to new stories, but also those which were published several months ago. I don't know if the situation can be reversed/resolved, but it is being investigated.
The Friend fiction team have promised to keep writers updated, which I'm sure they will do.
Tuesday, 13 July 2021
ALCS and TPF/MW
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28 comments:
Thanks, Patsy for finding out. I do hope they change it back!
Alyson
@ Alyson – Me too. It's not just the money. It would be a real shame if the world's oldest women's magazine was no longer a magazine!
This all about collecting royalties and making it easier and cheaper for DC Thomson to do so. The idea is they will then pass that saving on to their journalists and writers. So, expect a pay rise soon! Either that or we’ve been screwed yet again. Anon-sick-to-death-of-writing-for-nothing.
@Patsy, the money is important though! It's a nice bonus every March and since I sell most of my stories to TPF...
@Patsy. I wonder if they realise this affects writers? That our income decreases?
Alyson
Thanks Patsy. I heard this today. I ve only just got started with ALCS so it's all still quite confusing anyway!
Thanks Patsy. I ve only just started with ALCS so it's all still quite confusing!
DC have sighed up here, I believe - https://www.nlamediaaccess.com/
Thanks Patsy.
And both the People's Friend and My Weekly Pocket novels too.
It's going to be a massive hit to writers incomes. :(
Disappointing news indeed.
This is terribly dispiriting news.
I received my first ALCS payment just a few weeks ago (mine comes to me via Australia's Copyright Agency)and it was a very pleasant and unexpected bonus.
It's really disappointing that we could lose this payment, especially in what have been extremely challenging times financially with the Covid-19 situation/lockdowns.
@ Anon – can you explain what you mean by royalties and DCT collecting them? That's not something I've previously heard of in connection with magazines.
@ Alyson – Yes indeed, the money does make a big difference. It seems that those who deal with the fiction at the magazines were unaware that this change would reduce our income. I doubt they were involved in this decision.
@ ChrisC – It is a bit confusing. Work in magazines qualifies for payments, that in newspapers, or magazines which are supplements of a newspaper don't. I don't understand why one does and one doesn't, nor how a publication that's been a magazine for decades can decide to be a newspaper without making any other changes.
@ Anonymous – That would go some way to explaining things.
@ Carol – I hadn't realised it would impact on pocket novels too. It makes writing those look far less attractive, doesn't it?
@ Elizabeth – Yes. Very.
@ Liz – I quite agree.
This whole situation is a real shock and the implication for pocket novel writers is probably the most extreme as it's really only the income from ALCS that made writing them a financially viable proposition at all. The pay rates have not increased for years so the ALCS money was an important part of the income for the work any of the writers do. I hope this gets sorted out. ALCS seem to be suggesting that the payment made in March was the last one.
This is a dreadful state of affairs. Once again the writer gets hit hard. I have been concentrating on Pocket Novels over the last year and wanted to continue doing so as the short story market was shrinking so much and now even PN's are being hit. I do hope that it's sorted out. So unfair to all writers out there who write fiction.
Thanks for this Patsy, it's come as quite a shock. I've just been on the phone to ALCS who explain it's not just DC Thomson who have changed, it's a whole list of other publications and publishers. ALCS are going to compile a list of those publications affected by this change and send to members very soon.
Having just had 2 pocket novels accepted and currently half way through a third, this is dreadful news. What is the point of spending all that time and effort for a measly £300.
I will be watching this situation with concern, too, Patsy. As I'm relatively new to writing for the magazines, I've only had two annual payments from ALCS and I was surprised and delighted to find that these can be not-insignificant amounts. It would be very disappointing if such payments became a thing of the past.
Very sad dispiriting news for all of us. In the shrinking world of writing we've been hit with another blow :(
This is bad news. Over the last fifteen months I've written some non-fiction pieces for People's Friend and got great satisfaction from registering them in my ALCS account.
Now no March bonus to look forward to ...
I didn't realise it would affect Pocket Novels too. It really doesn't make it worth writing them without the ALCS money. I wonder what will happen if the supply dries up...?
Alyson
Because I'm in Australia, I'm not a member of ALCS. I claim ALCS payments via Australia's Copyright Agency - however, I have to send ALCS a list of my published stories/articles every six months.
Yesterday, ALCS emailed me regarding my just-submitted list (for published work dating from December 2020 to July 2021), saying none of my People's Friend/People's Friend Special stories and articles would be eligible for ALCS. When I queried the retrospective element, I was told that actually *all* my 2020 stories for People's Friend and People's Friend Special would be ineligble for the March 2022 distribution.
It's really disappointing - especially the retrospective element, given we've all been through a tough 16 months.
@ Everyone – Thanks for your comments. There's not been any update from the fiction team at TPF, other than an assurance that this is being looked into and writers will be informed of the outcome.
Like many of you I'm very disappointed both that this has happened and that we weren't informed in advance – and that writers have still not been officially informed of the change by anyone from DCT. It also seems very unfair that we weren't informed in advance of this change. (I don't blame the fiction team for this, as I'm sure they were unaware of any negative impact for writers.)
Totally agree Patsy.
The really frustrating thing is, going forward I can decide whether or not to submit to DCT. But for the stories I’ve sold to them so far this year and now can’t claim for, I’m set to lose over £200 and there’s nothing I can do about it. Jacqui
I wonder whether it is worth regular TPF writers including a gentle and polite query in their next communication with their editor? I feel that, if many of us comment, the magazine may feel more inclined to listen to our problem.
I usually earn a decent 4-figure sum each February, and will really feel the lack of these royalties in my income.
Alison.
I think I will mention it to mine!
I wouldn't have known about ALCS were it not for this blog - so thanks, Patsy and the other contributors who took the trouble to explain the process. It has made a big difference to me over the past 4 years when I first started claiming. It's a massive blow that we may no longer be able to claim this extra income and shocking that the publications mentioned didn't think to inform us. Linda
I thought people might be interested in this email I have received from ALCS in response to my query about DC Thomson and ALCS. I have posted this on Womag Writers and Company group on Facebook, also RNA, so apologies for those who have already read it.
"In regards to the publisher, D C Thomson they have always mandated with the NLA for some time. ALCS has reviewed the mandates of publishers and in order to adhere to Government regulations, we could no longer pay out on publications from Publishers who were mandated by the NLA as, we receive our revenue for journals and magazines from the CLA who do not have a licence to collect monies for NLA publishers.
To that end, ALCS allowed a ‘cool off’ period whereby, we still honoured the existing claims submitted by our members which has now come to an end. Although DC Thomson the publisher is mandated with the NLA, it does not reclassify any journals or magazines to a newspaper. D C Thomson still retain their published journals and magazines.
We can only advise that you contact your publisher to see if you can now claim via them for the money that you were previously eligible to receive from ALCS. This may be something that is included within your contract. Our understanding is that the NLA will pay your publisher any fees due contractually, but this is something that you will have to ask them about directly.
This will be brought to the ALCS Distribution and Membership Committee who will be looking into ways of how to get this message out to our members once we have established how many ALCS members are actually affected by this.
The most recent publishers to date are;
• William Reed
• Pageant Media
• Aspermont Media
• PEI Media
• Incisive Media
• Euromoney Institutional Investor
• Stage Media Company"
And in a further update, I asked ALCS on twitter if you could still claim ALCS for stories in MW Annuals and PF Annuals and they said yes, because these publications have an ISBN.
I do feel we don't have the complete picture yet and hope ALCS (and DC Thomson) will be able to shed more light on this situation soon. I'm trying to be patient!
I looked at my contract (from 2016) but couldn't find any mention of ALCS. But it would appear that DC T was mandated with NLA then. So, unless I'm understanding this incorrectly, it is not DC Thomson that has changed, it's to do with a review (and government guidelines?).
I think the situation is beyond an individual writer or writers now and I hope that maybe writers' organisations will be able to shed some light on this and/or speak up for writers in some way.
Any thoughts?
I certainly didn't receive a huge sum from ALCS as I'm not prolific, but the ALCS monies did help with the paltry £300 for a pocket novel. I will seriously have to think about not writing any more of these.
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