RESOLUTION OPTIONS
Here are our recommended steps to a successful resolution
Check your contracts
The royalties that you are entitled to collect from Screenrights will be dependent on the contracts you have entered into. When you are notified of a competing claim the first step should always be to make sure your contractual position reflects your right to claim the types of royalties administered by Screenrights.
Find your contracts. In many cases it will be clear from your contracts whether you are entitled to claim the royalties, but if you are unsure we recommend you seek legal advice.
Check that your registration reflects your contracts
Once you are clear on the royalties you are entitled to claim we ask that you review your own registration. It might be the case that you have overstated your claim in your original registration and that it is your claim to royalties that needs to be changed to resolve the competing claim.
Sign into MyScreenrights here to check your registration.
Look up contact details of other claimant
Once you have verified your own claim against your contracts the next step is to make contact with the other party to the competing claim. Screenrights provides the contact details for the other party on MyScreenrights.
Sign in to MyScreenrights, navigate to Competing Claims and select the title. The detailed view of the competing claim will set out the name of the other party and their contact details.
Speak with the other claimant
We find the fastest way to resolve a competing claim is to pick up the phone and have a chat. It might be that the competing claim has arisen as a result of a misunderstanding and a quick call to clarify is all that it takes to reach a resolution.
Ask the other party to check that their registration reflects their contractual position and explain the basis of your entitlement to the royalties
Confirm your conversation by email
Follow up your phone conversation with an email summarising your conversation. You may not have reached a final resolution by phone and this will serve as a reminder to the parties to follow up on next steps.
The email also serves as a means of documenting the steps you are taking to resolve the competing claim which can be useful later if you find that you cannot reach a resolution without the assistance of formal processes.
If an informal approach does not resolve the competing claim…
Screenrights has formal pathways available to assist members in these cases.
Start with an informal approach
We recommend some simple, practical steps to resolving your competing claim.
We find the fastest way to resolve a competing claim is to pick up the phone and have a chat. It might be that the competing claim has been made unintentionally and a quick call to clarify is all that it takes to reach a resolution. Ask the other party to check that their registration reflects their contractual position and explain the basis of your entitlement to the royalties.
Informal approaches to resolving competing claims have proven to be very effective and inexpensive.
If you can’t agree on a final resolution, consider a temporary one
A temporary resolution, or ‘limited mutual agreement’ on a suitable outcome, may include a party agreeing to waive their claim on a one-off basis without varying their ongoing claim, or an agreed royalty sharing arrangement limited to currently available royalties from the CCF Year or final year of a Distribution Period.
Express Resolution Process (ERP)
If you are not able to resolve the Competing Claim directly with the other party and Screenrights has identified that a relevant presumption may apply, Screenrights may initiate the Express Resolution Process (ERP). The ERP focuses on Competing Claims which seem to be of a non-complex nature utilising a simple set of presumptions based on principles of Australian copyright and contract law and standard industry agreements.
If you are notified that a Presumption is not in your favour, you will have an opportunity to challenge the Presumption.
If the Competing Claim seems more complex or if the ERP does not resolve the Competing Claim, it may move to resolution under the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Procedure for Competing Claims.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Procedure for Competing Claims
Internal Determination
Where a Competing Claim is not resolved between the parties using a Self Service option or via the ERP where applicable, Screenrights offers Internal Determination as a pathway for resolution.
Internal Determination may occur following a request by one of the parties or, in the CCF year, may be initiated by Screenrights.
An Internal Determination refers to the process whereby a Screenrights Representative makes an Internal Determination based on all written applications and submissions received from one or more parties to a Competing Claim, setting out the basis for their claim.
If a decision is not made in your favour, you may submit a request for Independent Expert Determination within five (5) working days from the notice.
In relation to future royalties, the Past Determination Presumption applies. See Past Determination Presumption (below).
Independent Expert Determination
If you are not satisfied with an Internal Determination made by Screenrights under the ADR Procedure, you may request for the determination to be referred to an Independent Expert, subject to costs that will vary depending on the Determination.
An Expert Determination will be made on the merits of the parties’ written submissions.
In relation to future royalties, the Past Determination Presumption applies. See Past Determination Presumption (below).
Past Determination Presumption
Past determinations include Internal Determinations and Expert Determinations made under the Competing Claims Resolution Procedures. These past determinations can be used by Screenrights as a basis for the application of the Past Determination Presumption if future royalties become available, and can be relied on to resolve future Competing Claims in relation to the same rights.
This means royalties will be paid in accordance with the past determination unless you submit additional (new) evidence to reinstate or adjust your claim. For a claim to be reinstated or adjusted, you will have either new evidence that the rights position between the parties to the competing claim has changed since the time of the original determination, or a critical contract that was not available at the time of the original determination that puts the past determination into question. This can be done at any time.
Some things to be mindful of…
A competing claim is resolved only when registrations change
A competing claim arises when two or more registrations to royalties overlap. Therefore a competing claim will only appear as resolved if the registrations no longer overlap.
If you need to update your registration to reflect your contractual position we ask that you do so as quickly as possible on MyScreenrights.
If the other party needs to update their registration to reflect their contractual position the competing claim will appear as resolved once they have done so.
Deadlines
Royalties are available for distribution for a limited time only (4 years from first availability), and the Competing Claims Fund (CCF) Year allows members an extra 12 months to resolve competing claims. We call royalties from the final year of a Distribution Period – this year covering royalties from the 2014, 2015 and 2016 distribution years – ‘deadline royalties’, and royalties from the CCF Year ‘CCF royalties’.
Resolution pathways for deadline royalties and CCF royalties that will expire soon include an option for temporary resolution in relation only to available royalties, without resolving the underlying Competing Claim.
Competing claims with CCF or deadline royalties are clearly marked on MyScreenrights and are searchable. We recommend prioritising the resolution of these competing claims to avoid missing out on royalties.
Any royalties already paid to you
Sometimes a competing claim involves royalties that have been paid in part or paid in full to you already. This happens when a second, competing registration is submitted after you have already been paid, and the royalties are from distribution pools that are still open.
You can see whether any amount of royalties have already been paid to you on MyScreenrights.
It is important to note that if the competing claim is resolved in favour of the other party you may be required to return any previously paid royalties to Screenrights.