The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 organisation that works to ensure that writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

s are fairly compensated for any of their works that are copied, broadcast or recorded. It has operated in the United Kingdom since 1977. From that year to 2008, the ALCS distributed over £182 million to authors, and at the end of 2008 had in excess of 66,000 members.

History

ALCS was founded in 1977 after a long campaign in the United Kingdom by the Writers' Action Group (WAG) for writers to receive remuneration for the lending of their works by libraries. Then known as the Authors' Lending and Copyright Society, it was incorporated on 23 March 1977 to handle:

• payments from Verwertungsgesellschaft Wort (VG Wort – the Word Exploitation Corporation) for the German public lending right
  Public Lending Right
  A Public Lending Right program, is a program intended to either compensate authors for the potential loss of sales from their works being available in public libraries, or as a governmental support of the arts, through support of works available in public libraries, such as books, music and...
  
   (PLR);
• the British PLR;
• Belgian cable television
  Cable television
  Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
  
  ; and
• reprography
  Reprography
  Reprography is the reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means, such as photography or xerography. Reprography is commonly used in catalogs and archives, as well as in the architectural, engineering, and construction industries....
  
   (photocopying) royalties
  Royalties
  Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
  
  .

However, the organization that was eventually responsible for distributing the fees obtained from the lending of books in libraries was the Public Lending Right.

In 1982, The Copyright Licensing Agency

The Copyright Licensing Agency

The Copyright Licensing Agency is a UK non-profit organisation based in London, England. Founded in 1983 by the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society and the Publishers' Licensing Society ., the 'CLA' issues collective licences on behalf of authors, visual artists and publishers...

 was founded by ALCS and the Publishers Licensing Society

Publishers Licensing Society

The Publishers Licensing Society is a not-for-profit organisation that represents all book, journal and serial publishers based in the United Kingdom. PLS works to ensure that publishers are fairly compensated for any copying of their works through the collective licensing scheme, and works to...

 (PLS). ALCS receives the majority of its income (65–70%) from the CLA's photocopying licensing schemes.

Aims and operation

ALCS represents the interests of all UK writers and aims to ensure they are fairly compensated for any works that are copied, broadcast or recorded. The organisation is dedicated to protecting and promoting authors' rights:

• by encouraging the establishment of collective licensing schemes, where appropriate, and ensuring that fees resulting from such schemes are efficiently collected and distributed; and
• by building an understanding of the value of the contribution writers make to society.

ALCS's Ordinary Members sign a mandate that authorizes the Society to license and collect royalties

Royalties

Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...

 on their behalf. ALCS is granted authority to exercise rights on each author's behalf as part of schemes for the collective administration of royalties in the UK and abroad. The rights range from photocopying, scanning and cable retransmission in the UK and internationally to reproduction in journals. The authority entitles ALCS in agreed circumstances to permit or forbid the exercise of the rights, grant licences, collect fees for use and damages for misuse and take action to defend and protect the rights. ALCS works closely with other writers organisations such as The Society of Authors.

From its inception in 1977 to 2008, the ALCS distributed over £182 million to authors, and in the 2007–2008 financial year it paid over £17.5 million to over 46,500 authors.
Net royalties paid to writers increased by £0.5m to £23.1m in the financial year 2009/10, and ALCS membership increased by 4,657 to 69,564.

As an authority on copyright matters and authors' interests, the ALCS is committed to fostering an awareness of intellectual property

Intellectual property

Intellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...

 issues among the writing community. It monitors matters affecting copyright both in the UK and internationally, and makes regular representations on writers' behalf to the UK government and the European Commission

European Commission

The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

. ALCS also administers the All Party Writers Group.

Governance

The ALCS is governed by a board

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 of 10 directors, the majority of whom are working writers. The Board is responsible for the overall performance of the Society, which is incorporated as a company limited by guarantee

Company limited by guarantee

In British and Irish company law, a private company limited by guarantee is an alternative type of corporation used primarily for non-profit organisations that require legal personality. A guarantee company does not usually have a share capital or shareholders, but instead has members who act as...

.