There are no upfront costs for joining ASDACS; we instead deduct fees when we distribute any royalties that are due to you. ASDACS is a not-for-profit organisation and the fees we collect go toward our running costs so we can continue to service our members.
If you’re a member of the ADG or DEGANZ, our 10% membership fee charged on royalties is waived.
Whilst we primarily represent Australian and New Zealand directors, ASDACS’ membership is open to all nationalities.
Dual membership with another collection society or guild, such as Directors UK, Directors Guild of America or the Directors Guild of Canada is possible; however you will have to specify the works you’d like us to collect for and the territories you would like us to collect from.
ASDACS distributes royalties once a year, commencing between July - December. This is for the previous year’s royalties and gives us a chance to prepare and check all of the data and associated income we receive.
We’ll contact you during our annual distribution with further instructions on what to do to collect.
You can register your work through the ASDACS online membership portal or by submitting a completed ASDACS credits form. We will also contact you from time to time to update or verify your titles.
Currently directors do not have any rights within New Zealand, but the DEGANZ are campaigning to change this (with ASDACS' support).
In 2005, directors were granted retransmission rights (free to air broadcasts simultaneously retransmitted by another service, such as payTV). The Australian Consumer and Competition Commission granted ASDACS authorisation to make membership conditional upon directors assigning retransmission rights to it for a period of 5 years (effective 19 Sept 2020). After signing up to the new membership terms, ASDACS now requires that you use our recommended clause in your directors contracts and register the work with ASDACS. We will then submit your work with Screenrights to ensure you receive any retransmission royalty income.
If you do not want to assign your retransmission rights to ASDACS, you have the option of cancelling your membership by giving 3 months notice in writing. Should you wish to rejoin ASDACS after resigning, then a waiting period of 12 months applies before your membership application will be accepted again.
If you’re already registered with Screenrights, than there’s a good chance you’re registered to collect the same rights that ASDACS would register you for – retransmission rights. As a condition of membership, ASDACS now requires that members register their retransmission rights with Screenrights through ASDACS. Please contact the office for more information.
ASDACS has partnerships with over 37 international collecting societies; we register your work with our partners and they send us claims lists of works that have screened in their territory. We research, verify and claim works on these lists, as well as receive data sheets along with your payment during the year.
The royalties we collect are due to the legal entitlements of a director – therefore you are only entitled to receive director’s royalties if you were attributed for your work. If you did not receive a credit for your work as a director (as per our list of eligible director credits), then we cannot distribute the associated royalties to you.
ASDACS invites all members to nominate for the board at its annual AGM in May. We will send notifications closer to the time and you’re welcome to apply.