Royalty Distribution Charter

NLA media access is owned by and represents publishers. Our remit encompasses over 3,600 newspaper and magazine titles and 2,100 web titles.

Distribution to publishers is driven by a model reflecting actual copying returns, provided monthly by media monitoring agencies and annual client surveys.

  • NLA receives revenue for collective licensing from end users within the business and government sectors, Media Monitoring Organisations (MMOs), and overseas Reproduction Rights Organisations (RROs).
  • NLA aims to distribute revenue from collective licences to mandating publishers fairly, transparently, efficiently and swiftly.
  • NLA holds mandates directly with newspaper publishers and magazine titles are licensed through a mandate held with PLS.
  • NLA retains a proportion of the revenue collected to cover the cost of its operations and may vary this proportion from time to time as determined by the boards of directors of NLA.
  • The NLA administration fee is currently:
    • 17½% of revenue generated for shareholders.
    • 21% of revenue generated for regional and some overseas publishers.
    • 20% of revenue generated for the PLS from the licensing of magazine content
    • 25% of revenue generated for some overseas publishers
  • NLA accounts for the use of its administration fees annually within its statutory accounts and Annual Review.
  • NLA may periodically review the level of administration fees it receives in order to determine whether the aggregate amount it has received during the period under review exceeds or falls short of the amounts required by NLA for the proper functioning of its business. The NLA media access board may vary the administration fee in order to reflect anticipated reasonable costs for a forthcoming year or period.
  • Revenue is allocated to titles or publishers in accordance with information supplied by the end user, MMO or RRO. This information is gathered from information audits or record keeping surveys.
    • Revenue from transactional licences is allocated to the titles or publishers used under such licences.
    • Revenue for which NLA does not have title or publisher specific data is allocated to titles and publishers pro rata to the revenue generated from transactional licences.
  • Revenue allocated to each title is allocated to the publisher linked to that title, as notified to NLA at the date of the relevant distribution, notwithstanding that the revenue may relate, whether in whole or in part, to a period prior to such publisher being linked to the title in question.
  • Publishers shall notify NLA of changes to titles and publisher groups.
  • If NLA is notified in writing of a dispute between publishers as to who owns a particular title at the date of the relevant distribution, NLA shall withhold the distribution of revenue allocated to that title until such time as the dispute has been resolved and the outcome has been notified to NLA in writing by all parties to the dispute..
  • NLA will distribute net revenue allocated to mandating publishers or the PLS within 8 weeks of the end of the month to which the revenue relates.
  • Publishers are responsible for making payments to eligible contributors under the terms of the Special Contributor Scheme.
  • NLA shall be entitled to retain any interest earned from money passing through its accounts and shall apply this towards the costs of its operation.
  • NLA shall be under no obligation to make a payment to a publisher if it fails to notify NLA in writing of any changes to its contact details and NLA cannot with reasonable effort make contact with such publisher.
  • Revenue allocated to individual titles or publishers in accordance with this charter may vary over time. Future revenue cannot reliably be forecast on the basis of current receipts.
  • Publishers are encouraged to enter into a self-billing invoice arrangement with NLA to assist the administration of the NLA licensing scheme.
  • This distribution charter is reviewed by the NLA board regularly and may be amended from time to time.
  • An overview of the distribution policy can be found in the Publisher Code of Practice