When creative work is streamed, broadcast, communicated – or used to train AI – the people who made it should be paid.
Australia’s creative work underpins our cultural identity and fuels a multi‑billion‑dollar economy. Yet too often, the people who make that work are paid once, while others profit from it long into the future.
We’re calling for a change to copyright law that would ensure that creators are paid fairly whenever their work is broadcast, streamed, or publicly communicated – including when it is used to power AI.
Equitable Remuneration is a principle that – if introduced into copyright law – would provide a legal guarantee that creators receive ongoing, fair payment whenever their work is used, rather than a one‑off fee.
Most importantly, ER is an inalienable right and cannot be signed away or waived by contract. It keeps money flowing back to creators, where it belongs, safeguarding Australia’s cultural and economic future.
Find our more – “Pay Up” – the Case for ER
How You Can Get Involved
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FAQs
How would this differ to the way it works now?
At the moment, worker access to payment for the use of their creative works is by contract and can be traded away, usually for a one-off fee. The change we are advocating for would establish a guaranteed right for payment for ongoing use.
Why is MEAA asking for change to copyright law?
MEAA collects payments for our members in the screen industry through mechanisms such as ‘residuals’. This right to ‘residuals’ was established decades ago for performers through industrial agreements. ER would broaden this right to other media and creative workers and set it on a more solid foundation in law.
How will I benefit from ER?
ER gives workers an inalienable right to receive money from the licensing of the work they have helped to create. It is a guaranteed way to ensure that you get paid for the work you contribute to.
What does this mean for ‘residuals’ payments for performers?
ER will further protect performers rights to ‘residuals’ by enshrining them as a right by law, and will extend those rights to use of works in AI.
Who will pay for ER?
Anyone who licenses creative work such as radio, TV, streaming, news and AI companies would be required to pay a licensing fee. A portion of this license fee would go to the original creators through ER.
Are high-profile feature artists at risk of losing out from ER?
ER will guarantee original creators are paid every time their work is broadcast, streamed or publicly communicated. And our claim is that this right must also be extended to the use of works by AI companies. The principle of ER ensures that contributors are paid for their work, and does not displace the separate agreements featured artists have in place. ER will improve the payment system for all creative workers.
Will this make it too expensive to produce music or film in Australia?
There is no evidence that fair payment to creators drives production away. Films and music are made in countries all over the world that already have forms of equitable remuneration in place, and those industries continue to thrive. Fair payment doesn’t drive production away – it helps ensure there’s still a workforce worth investing in.
