The Copyright Agency is inviting Australian artists and their heirs to nominate about where their works have been published or used on TV to receive payment for their copyright-protected work as part of a month-long campaign.

The Copyright Agency, which recently merged with Viscopy, is Australia’s national copyright licensing organisation for the publishing, media, surveying and visual arts industries.

The campaign aims to ensure key royalty payments are being made to Australian artists, as well as to build a more comprehensive picture about how copyrighted artwork is being used in Australia.

Adam Suckling, CEO at the Copyright Agency, said: “We are committed to ensuring artists receive fair reward for the use of their images to encourage their continued work to protect and promote a thriving creative industry.

“More than $1 million in royalties will be paid to artists, photographers, cartoonists and illustrators who provide details about where their works have been published or screened on television before 30 April 2018.

“Last year’s campaign saw over $760,00 was paid to more than 1,600 creators with individual payments ranging from $50 to $5,000 and we hope to see more of those funds released this year.”

Artists, photographers, illustrators, cartoonists and fine artists are being asked to provide information about where their work has been published and are eligible if they comply with the following:

• Have created artworks (such as photographs, cartoons, illustrations or paintings) or are the beneficiary of a person who created artworks;
• Have had images included in an Australian publication (book, e-book, journal, online journal, magazine, newspaper) and/or shown on TV in Australia and the artist retains the copyright for those images.

Artists will to need to be a member of the Copyright Agency to apply, but membership is free and those who applied last year do not need to re-supply the same information.