YEAR IN REVIEW2018-2019  
KEY HIGHLIGHTS  
A record $43.5 million available for distribution to  
Screenrights members in 2018/19  
1,637,704 events came in to our systems, up by 33%,  
more accurately reporting each program usage  
Membership grew by 5% to total 4,438 members  
from 66 countries around the world  
Our Disbursements by Screenrights service  
collected $2.94 million on behalf of members,  
up 38% on the previous year  
Image Credits  
Employable Me, Northern Pictures  
Outback, Northern Pictures  
MESSAGE FROM THE SCREENRIGHTS CHAIR  
Jill Bryant Chair  
2019 is my thirteenth year as Chair of the Screenrights Board, and that seems an  
auspicious number at which to announce that this will be my final year in the role and  
also as a Board director. It has been an honour to lead the Board since being elected  
Chair in 2006, having joined the Board in 2003.  
As I look to hand over the baton, I reflect on Screenrights’ many developments and achievements  
during those thirteen years.  
Since 2006, the Society has collected over $543.8 million and distributed over $434 million to  
rightsholders in screen content around the world.  
Screenrights has grown from collecting $37.7 million in licence and other revenue in FY2006/07  
to collecting $50.7 million on behalf of our members this financial year.  
In 2006/07 we had 2,653 members in 54 countries and distributed just under $20 million to them.  
In FY2018/19 membership has increased to 4,438, and the amount distributed has more than  
doubled to over $40 million.  
In my time as Chair since 2006, Screenrights has  
distributed over $434 million to rightsholders  
in screen content around the world.  
As Chair, I have been pleased to encourage continual governance improvements including  
regular skills reviews at Board level. More recently, the Board led the membership in approving  
changes to our constitution to introduce requirements for Authorial Directors and term limits,  
ensuring that the screen sector is well represented with a balance of expertise and experience in  
the Board’s composition into the future.  
Screenrights has remained fully compliant with the voluntary Code of Conduct for  
Collecting Societies in Australia over these years, and has met its standards in every  
independent annual review since the Code’s introduction in 2002.  
Screenrights’ subsidiary EnhanceTV has developed from a DVD and video mail-out  
service to a modern online streaming platform. As a curated resource centre for  
educators, it is increasing access to a wider variety of content than ever before.  
Copyright’s detractors often accuse the law of restricting access. However, with  
Screenrights educational licences – in partnership with resource centres – educators  
are able to source the programs they need in the classroom quickly, easily and legally.  
Another recent development is the Screenrights' Cultural Fund, launched last financial  
year and now funding its second round of initiatives. With a focus on connecting  
education with screen content, the Fund has awarded $325,000 to seven innovative  
projects in Australia and New Zealand that will increase access and foster diverse  
screen voices. I look forward to seeing the outcomes of these projects as well as  
those that will receive support in the coming years.  
Last year saw James Dickinson take over as Chief Executive from Simon Lake, who  
had been in the role for 20 years. I believe that I am leaving the organisation in a strong  
position under James’ capable leadership, supported by a first-rate staff under the  
guidance of a distinguished Board.  
Finally, I would like to thank the Screenrights team, my fellow Directors past and  
present and our members for their support over the years. I am proud to have played  
my part in the growth and development of our unique organisation, and in preparing it  
for the challenges of business in a new and ever-changing media landscape.  
Jill Bryant  
Screenrights Chair  
25 September 2019  
Image Credits  
Sherpa, Felix Media  
Outback, Northern Pictures  
MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE  
James Dickinson Chief Executive  
This year’s figures show a record $43.5 million available for distribution to  
Screenrights members, up 3% on last year’s $42.13 million – and when it  
comes to educational licences, we’re dealing with an ever-increasing number  
of events to distribute this money more widely and accurately than before.  
Gone are the days of random samples, as resource centres like ClickView and  
Screenrights-owned EnhanceTV now provide accurate usage instances, each of  
which makes up an event. Tipping over 1.6 million events this year, we’re always  
developing more sophisticated systems to manage such huge amounts  
of data on behalf of our members.  
What this means is a fairer system for allocating royalty payments, but also that we’re seeing  
teachers use a far wider variety of screen content in schools. The curated content available  
via resource centres enables educators to access programs that would have been impossible  
to find in the past, and this is great for students as well as for screen content creators.  
A few achievements to highlight this year include our record number of new members,  
up 5% from 2017/18; our Disbursements Service continuing to grow year-on-year; our  
International Collections Service continuing to provide value to members; and our successful  
negotiation of new Australian education, New Zealand education, and Foxtel retransmission  
licence agreements.  
It’s a disruptive and exciting time, and Screenrights  
will remain a valuable part of the changing industry  
as we diversify our services for members  
and licensees.  
The second year of the Screenrights Cultural Fund has seen us support some really  
exciting initiatives that will benefit screen audiences in regional Australia, young Maori  
filmmakers in New Zealand, documentary filmmakers looking to create social impact,  
and primary school students’ understanding around refugees living in transit. We can’t  
wait to see the results of the projects.  
In close consultation with the Screenrights Board, we’ve been revising all of our strategic  
planning to look at how to best evolve the organisation to the continually growing online  
market. It’s a disruptive and exciting time, and Screenrights will remain a valuable part  
of the changing industry as we diversify our services for members and licensees.  
We’ve worked closely with the Government, other collecting societies, members and  
licensees to update the voluntary Code of Conduct governing collecting societies.  
The revised Code was implemented at the end of the year and provides even greater  
transparency in reporting than before. Screenrights is committed to best practice  
governance, and the Code, with which we remain fully compliant, plays a key role.  
If you’re interested in getting into further financial detail, you can find much more in our  
James Dickinson,  
Chief Executive  
25 September 2019  
Image Credits  
Elements, WildBear Entertainment  
Hitler's Propaganda Machine, WildBear Entertainment  
DISTRIBUTION  
More money than ever before, paid to you more quickly  
In 2018/19, the new money for distribution to members was a record $43.5 million.  
Due to improved systems, we're paying members more quickly and the backlog from  
past periods is reducing each year.  
FIGURE 1 Total funds available for distribution to members, by type of licence,  
2016/17 to 2018/19  
FIGURE 2 Distribution account balance at the end of each year: 2013/14 to 2017/18  
Australian Educational  
Service (AES)  
2013/14  
$22.64m  
Australian Retransmission  
Service (ARS)  
2014/15  
$19.58m  
2015/16  
2016/17  
2017/18  
$15.71m  
$15.04m  
$
43.50m  
Australian Government  
Service (AGS)  
$
40.07m  
$42.13m  
NZ Educational Service  
(NZES)  
$12.75m  
International Collections  
Service (ICS)  
Disbursements by  
Screenrights (DASA)  
Starting from a reduced balance, we distributed $40.9 million to our members  
in 2018/19.  
FIGURE 3 Amount distributed to members each year 2009/10 to 2018/19, and  
breakdown by type of member for the past three years  
2
6.7m  
26.9m  
27.8m  
$
26.7 $30.8 $32.2 $34.9 $34.9 $38.6 $43.1 $43.1  
$42.8  
$40.9  
8
.2m  
.4m  
.0m  
.2m  
.6m  
8.1m  
1.4m  
1.9m  
1.7m  
2.1m  
7.9m  
1.5m  
2.0m  
1.4m  
2.9m  
All members  
1
Australian  
members  
$
21.6  
$20.6  
$21.5  
2
Australian  
collecting society  
members  
1
0
$4.4  
0.6  
$4.6  
$0.6  
$4.1  
$
New Zealand  
members  
2016/17  
2017/18  
2018/19  
$0.5  
International  
members  
$16.5  
$17  
$14.8  
MEMBERSHIP  
Screenrights members in Australia, New Zealand, and around the world  
We had a record number of new members in 2018/19, with membership growing 5%,  
totalling 4,438 members from 66 countries as of June 2019. Our database now holds  
over 1.25 million active registrations of members' rights in programs.  
FIGURE 5 Geographical distribution of Screenrights members  
FIGURE 4 Membership numbers 2008/09 to 2017/18, and breakdown by member type  
for current year  
3
,145 3,321 3,464 3,560 3,693 3,821 3,957 4,107 4,227 4,438  
Australian members  
,281  
2
New Zealand members  
98  
3
International members  
,759  
1
Countries with Screenrights members  
Image Credits  
Baby Animals in the Wild,WildBear Entertainment |Hawke:The Larrikin and the Leade r, Southern Pictures  
LICENCES  
Valuing the ongoing usage of members' programs  
On behalf of our members, Screenrights successfully negotiated new licence  
agreements with New Zealand tertiary institutions, Australian universities,  
and Foxtel.  
Screenrights processed a record number of “events” (which are uses under our  
licence) in 2018/19. This means that our distributions are growing ever more  
comprehensive, with increasing data to work from.  
FIGURE 6 Revenue from licences and other collection services (including interest),  
FIGURE 8 Total number of events tracked over the last 3 years, by licence type  
total and by service type, 2016/17 to 2018/19  
1,637,704  
$
46.8m  
$49.5m  
$51.2m  
Australian Educational  
Service (AES)  
Australian Educational  
Service (AES)  
1,237,209  
Australian Retransmission  
Service (ARS)  
Australian Retransmission  
Service (ARS)  
9
82,816  
Australian Government  
Service (AGS)  
3
1.3m  
32.0m  
33.2m  
Australian Government  
Service (AGS)  
NZ Educational Service  
(NZES)  
613,219  
825,000  
1,249,399  
NZ Educational Service (NZES)  
International Collections  
Service (ICS)  
9
.5m  
9.6m  
1.6m  
2.3m  
1.9m  
2.1m  
9.3m  
1.6m  
2.5m  
1.5m  
3.1m  
1
.7m  
.4m  
.4m  
.6m  
1
90,634  
183,991  
24,369  
177,246  
35,082  
2
1
0
Disbursements by Screenrights  
(DASA)  
39,842  
139,121  
203,849  
175,977  
2016/17  
2017/18  
2018/19  
2016/17  
2017/18  
2018/19  
FIGURE 7 Net income from licences each year 2016/17 to 2018/19  
$
42.9m  
2018/19  
$
41.7m  
2017/18  
$
39.6m  
2016/17  
Image Credit  
Outback, Northern Pictures  
LICENCES cont  
More detail on the content used by licensees  
We now have much more granular information available about the types of material  
being used in educational institutions, which can help members understand what  
educators are finding useful.  
FIGURE 9 Share of copies made for different types of content at Australian  
Educational Institutions  
Documentary 21.22%  
Factual 20.52%  
Feature Film 18.34%  
News & Current  
Affairs 15.74%  
Drama Series 4.98%  
Children's Series  
4
.12%  
Light Entertainment  
.74%  
3
Dedicated  
Educational 2.82%  
Comedy Series 2.12%  
Short 1.95%  
Mini-Series/  
Telemovie 1.58%  
Reality Television  
1.32%  
Other 1.54%  
Image Credits  
Outback, Northern Pictures  
Employable Me, Northern Pictures  
SERVICES  
Helping our members in more ways  
Our Disbursements by Screenrights service continues to grow, and we collected  
FIGURE 11 Territories in which Screenrights International collects income on behalf  
$2.9 million on behalf of members in 2018/19, up from $2.1 million the previous year.  
of our members  
Screenrights International actively negotiates the territories in which we collect for  
our members.  
FIGURE 10 Total collections through our Disbursements by Screenrights service  
2016/17 to 2018/19  
Currently collecting  
Under negotiation  
$
582,000  
016/17  
$2,132,000  
$2,940,000  
2
2017/18  
2018/19  
Image Credit  
William Yang: My Generation,Felix Media  
EXPENDITURE  
Working hard to minimise our costs  
FIGURE 12 Breakdown of Expenditure for 2018/19  
INSIGHT: Expenditure in relation to Collections  
Screenrights’ total expenditure amounted to 16.2% of total collections in 2018/19,  
which is slightly up on the 2017/18 figure of 15.9%, but remains steady in spite of the  
increase in events we're working with.  
FIGURE 13 Overall expenditure to collections ratio, 2016/17 to 2018/19  
16.2%  
2018/19  
15.9%  
2017/18  
$
8.65  
15.5%  
million  
2016/17  
FIGURE 14 Expenditure to collections ratio by licence type, 2016/17 to 2018/19  
15.7% 16.5% 17.0% 15.4% 16.4% 16.7% 15.4% 16.4% 16.7% 18.6% 20.7% 21.9%  
Australian  
Educational  
Service (AES)  
Employee Related  
$4,877,569  
Australian  
Retransmission  
Service (ARS)  
Operating Expenses  
Promotions/Marketing  
NZ  
$2,889,330  
$240,679  
$128,282  
$116,770  
$104,850  
Australian  
Government  
Service (AGS)  
Licensing  
NZ Educational  
Service (NZES)  
Travel  
Legal  
Other  
$88,845  
$208,118  
ADVOCACY  
Last but not least, we continued to advocate for our  
members' rights in support of a vibrant screen  
industry across Australia and New Zealand.  
We also participated in the external reference  
group for the new Code of Conduct for Copyright  
copyrightcodeofconduct.org.au website in partnership  
with the other Australian societies.  
Image Credits  
Ella, WildBear Entertainment  
The Mosque Next Door,Southern Pictures  
Big Art ,WildBear Entertainment  
Screenrights  
Australia  
ABN: 76 003 912 310  
Phone +61 2 8038 1300  
Level 1, 140 Myrtle Street  
New Zealand  
Freephone 0800 44 2348  
Freefax 0800 44 7006