Pay the Creator campaign

Pay the Creator is a Creators’ Rights Alliance (CRA) campaign calling for creators to be paid professionally and promptly, and to be given the same considerations enjoyed by other workers in the areas of pay, business support and policy making.

We are asking everyone to share the #PayTheCreator hashtag, to link it to their campaigns for better practice and to call out good and bad examples of payment and contract practices.

Pay the Creator brings together CRA member campaigns and the work they do, tirelessly championing creator working rights. AOI’s Keep Your Copyright campaign plays under the Pay the Creator banner.

To support as a creator: download the Pay the Creator logo to use on your own website and email signatures, linking to the Pay the Creator CRA page. Use #PayTheCreator on your social media feeds to highlight the best and the worst in pay and contract practices. Pledge your support to the Pay the Creator campaign here.

“It is always unacceptable to expect creators to receive ‘exposure’ or ‘experience’ in place of payments, but this has become especially prevalent throughout the pandemic. It is also unacceptable to take creators’ rights without fair payment. Our creative freelancers are a key cornerstone of our economy, providing important creativity, knowledge, and expertise. Without them our books, films, magazines, television, film, theatre and music venues would be empty, devoid of content. They have been dismissed far too long as irrelevant and unimportant to those who use their services and work, as well as to policy decision makers. This must stop. Pay the Creator brings together CRA member campaigns and the work they do tirelessly championing creators’ working rights.”

Nicola Solomon, CEO Society of Authors and CRA Chair

The challenge

Too often creators are offered payment in kind, through exposure, or opportunity, rather than financial payment for their work and rights. They are also ignored when policies are being developed and support is being given.

Creators’ work is the foundation of the largest sector within the UK economy. Yet their needs are repeatedly ignored when policy, economic and support decisions are being made.

We must bring to an end a practice that discriminates, stifles access and limits those who are able to work in our industry.

CRA member organisations already constantly campaign on these issues. Through Pay the Creator we are bringing together all our member organisations’ campaigns under one simple banner, to spread our collective message even wider.

Help us and our members ensure that all creators are:

Paid for the work they do, and the rights they grant, on time and reflecting their skills and contributions
Recognised for the contribution they make to the creative industries, the UK’s economy, and our wellbeing
At the heart of government policy and decision-making process

Inequitable payment disproportionally affects those who are under-represented within the industry, limiting their chances to make a living from their creativity and to remain in the sector. It sets back any progress toward the inclusive industry that we all want to see. These unfair practices ensure that only those who come from backgrounds where they can be financially supported can sustain a career in the sector.

We cannot and should not accept the inequality of pay for creators of all kinds – writers, illustrators, photographers, musicians, actors, and artists.

Go here for more on what you can do to help.

CRA Members and partner organisations

Association of Authors’ Agents (AAA)

Association of British Science Writers (ABSW)

Association of Illustrators (AOI)

Association of Photographers (AOP)

Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS)

British Association of Picture Libraries and Agencies (BAPLA)

British Institute of Professional Photography (BIPP)

Chartered Institute of Journalists (CIJ)

DACS (Design and Artists Copyright Society)

Directors UK

Equity

Garden Media Guild (GMG)

Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM)

Ivors Academy

Music Managers’ Forum (MMF)

Musicians Union (MU)

National Union of Journalists (NUJ)

Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild (OWPG)

Personal Managers’ Association (PMA)

Producers and Composers of Applied Music (PCAM)

Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation (PCO)

Society of Artists’ Agents (SAA)

Society of Authors (SOA)

Writers Guild of Great Britain (WGGB)

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