The 'Wild West' of freelance journalism

Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society Ontario United Kingdom

to facilitate discussions between freelancers and the UK government. Freelancers are too often overlooked by policymakers; the creation of such a role would greatly improve engagement and plug gaps in knowledge.

Changes to copyright legislation. The establishment of clearer rights for the use of journalistic content for emerging secondary use markets (such as news scraping) should be considered, which may, in turn, also bring about more comprehensive collective bargaining and licensing (resulting in more payments).

Reducing barriers to access for marginalised demographic groups. The report demonstrates that the profession risks becoming the exclusive remit of the 'privileged', excluding workers from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Active, supportive advocacy may be needed at the early stages in a prospective journalists' career.

Rights and contracts education. This report confirms that many journalists are uncertain about their rights, particularly in regard to rights assignment and waivers of moral rights, both of which may have important implications for routes to earnings. More effective signposting to existing resources would greatly assist freelance journalists.

Chief Executive of ALCS, Barbara Hayes said: "As ALCS prepares to distribute more than £31million to over 100,000 writers, we are shocked to see so few freelance journalists benefit from the new and emerging online reuses of their work. This report reveals some worrying trends for the profession, including low pay and informal work practices. While digital platforms and artificial intelligence present both risks and opportunities for freelance journalists, the Government must do more to empower these creators, by supporting mechanisms to negotiate compensation for the use of works in the platform economy."

Professor Martin Kretschmer, Director of the CREATe Centre, said: "Our latest data on freelance journalists indicates a still strong reliance in earnings on traditional media organisations. Whether new digital business models can deliver sustainable quality journalism is one of the big questions of our time. It matters for the future of democratic societies."

EDITOR'S NOTES 

Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society (ALCS) 

ALCS is a not-for-profit organisation started by writers for the benefit of all types of writers. Owned by its members, ALCS collects money due for secondary uses of writers' work. It is designed to support authors and their creativity; ensure they receive fair payment and see their rights are respected. It promotes and teaches the principles of copyright and campaigns for a fair deal for writers. It represents over 120,000 members, and since 1977 has paid over £650million to writers.
alcs.co.uk

CREATe

CREATe is the Centre for Regulation of the Creative Economy, funded as UK research infrastructure by the AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) and hosted by the University of Glasgow's School of Law (a global top 50 Law School). CREATe is an acronym for Creativity, Regulation, Enterprise and Technology. It was established in 2012 as the result of a competition for a national centre for "copyright and new business models in the creative economy" and specialises in interdisciplinary research in the context of intellectual property, competition, information and technology law.

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