Special Contributors Survey - 2014 Results

In order for NLA media access licences to operate smoothly for its licensees, publishers grant a mandate which covers all editorial content in their publications, so that  monitoring agencies and their clients can copy articles knowing that they can rely on the rights granted in NLA licences.

In fact, the copying rights for a percentage of the content may be owned by the contributor (an agency or a freelance commissioned by the publisher). Most publishers operate highly sophisticated rights management processes, which mean that they either own content or a have a licence to publish, copy, or syndicate third party content – which is essential in a fast-moving, multi-platform publishing world.

Although the percentage of content that is not ‘owned’ by the publisher in this way is small and diminishing, it is important that any contributor that has retained rights should receive their share of revenue that has been earned through NLA’s media monitoring licences. NLA therefore conducts a Survey to determine the percentage that a publisher should pay to individual contributors or (if the amount due is less than £100 per individual) to the Journalists Charity .

The latest survey was conducted in 2014 and the headline results were published earlier this year; but now that all publisher payments have been made, we are able to report in much greater depth, giving details of the extent of the survey and the number of recipients paid. Full details on the Special Contributors Scheme can be found here