We’re focused on helping owners of creative content earn a living from their work. That's why we make regular distribution payments to authors and publishers.
Funds distributed to Rightsholders are generated from New Zealand licence-holders. We also distribute funds generated from overseas and remitted to us by our counterparts overseas (funds are also remitted to them by us).
New Zealand Revenue Distribution
What: from New Zealand licence fees
When: between October/December each year
This distribution is completed once a year and is for all funds collected domestically from licence fees. Usage data is collected throughout the year and is validated by our Research and Data entry team. One of our biggest challenges is tracking down Rightsholders (owners of the creative works copied), so we encourage you to keep your records up to date with us (including contact details and banking information).
Overseas Revenue Distribution
What: from overseas licence fees
When: between May/July each year
This distribution is completed once a year and is for all funds we receive from overseas RRO organisations like ours (Reproduction Rights Organisations) that we have agreements with (excluding UK-based Author's Licensing and Collecting Society Ltd (ALCS). This means that if you’re a New Zealand Rightsholder and your publication is copied overseas in a country that has an agreement with us, the local RRO will send the funds to us and we will distribute these back to you.
Find out which organisations and countries we have agreements with here.
ALCS Distribution (UK-based revenue)
What: from UK-based ALCS revenue
When: twice a year, between February/March and September/October
While our general distribution of monies to Rightsholders is made once a year, we also make additional distributions on behalf of the UK-based Author’s Licensing and Collecting Society Ltd (ALCS). We have an agreement with ALCS to act as their agent and receive and distribute royalties collected and held by ALCS where these are due to New Zealand writers.
Calculating the distribution of funds
The net funds we receive from each licence category are put aside into distribution pools. These funds are then allocated according to the copying records we receive from licencees. We divide the total value in each distribution pool by the total number of pages in that pools’ copying records. This gives us a page-rate. The number of pages of each Rightsholder’s works that have been copied in that pool are then multiplied by the page rate to give a sum owing from that pool.
For a full understanding of the distribution process, check out our Distribution Policy (pdf) here.
Administration charges
The revenue we collect from licensing, after operating costs, is distributed to the Rightsholders of the works copied. A small percentage amount is deducted from the gross distributable funds we receive each year. These fees and costs are detailed in our Distribution Policy, and are for operating costs incurred in the processing and distribution of revenue from copyright clearance services and overseas RRO's.
We also allocate 2% of revenue to the Copyright Licensing Cultural Fund and 1% of revenue to the Copyright Licensing Legal Reserve Fund from blanket licensing schemes. For detailed information about our administrative charges and other costs, please read our Distribution Policy (pdf) here.
