Unions join forces to stop scams

Joint statement on up-front fees and book fees for walk-on and supporting artists

Background - where are we coming from?

• Equity is a trade union representing 37,000 people working in the entertainment industry, including actors, performers, walk-on and supporting artists and creative contributors. BECTU is a trade union representing more than 27,000 permanently employed, contract and freelance workers in broadcasting, film, theatre, entertainment, interactive media and allied areas.
• Entertainment and modelling agents provide our members with a range of vital work-finding services. We understand the importance of this role and believe that agents deserve to be paid appropriately for their services.
• We have been closely involved in the development of legislation, policy and industry practice in this area. Our priority has been to secure a framework to ensure that our members get the important services they require without fear of exploitation, in a manner that supports the operation of genuine entertainment agents and of important publication and directory services. Principles - where do we stand?
• Our underlying principle in developing an appropriate framework is that the fees charged by agents for the services they provide should be deducted from earnings - so that the agent takes a fee as a result of work found.
• This is the usual practice in the entertainment industry, except for some agents dealing with walk-on and supporting artists and models, who request a fee in advance. We believe it is unfair to expect our members to pay a fee simply to register with an agent, with little or no prospect of work.
• For this reason we supported the Government's decision to ban up-front registration fees in the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003.
• Unfortunately, a whole range of publications and directory services (e.g. Spotlight, Showcall, Castnet) are treated as employment agencies under the legislation. This led to an exemption to the ban on up-front registration fees, so they could continue to operate.
• We understand why Government agreed to exempt services that only provide publications, directories or advertisements and do not act as employment agents. However, there was a further exemption allowing agencies to publish their own books and to charge a fee to their clients in advance. This fee must be no more than an estimate of the cost of producing and circulating the individual's details in the publication.
• This further exemption is ill-defined, impossible to enforce and abused by some rogue agents. Therefore, while we appreciate the need for some publications, directories or advertisements to be paid for in advance, further clarity and additional restrictions are required regarding fees paid to agents.

The future - what should be done?

• The 2003 regulations (introduced in April 2004) outlawed up-front registration fees. These regulations should be enforced rigorously and promoted more widely, in order to eliminate up-front registration fees.
• However, the best way to protect vulnerable performers from exploitation of this kind is to create a clear distinction between publications, directories and on-line information services on the one hand, and genuine entertainment employment agents on the other.
• A genuine entertainment employment agency has direct, personal and ongoing relationships with the artists they represent and is responsible for negotiating directly with employers. Entertainment employment agents of this kind should be licensed and be prevented from charging any fee to artists, other than commission from work found.
• In order to achieve this, the Government should therefore amend the definition of employment agencies under the current legislation. Services such as Spotlight, Showcall, Castnet and the numerous publication and directory services in the entertainment and modelling sectors are not the same as personal managers or employment agents that actively find work.
• Once this distinction has been made, the only fee charged by an entertainment agent should be a limited commission fee, which is taken out of the artists earnings from work found by the agent. Artists should also be paid at least industry standard rates and, after any deductions, must receive an hourly rate in excess of the national minimum wage.
• Up-front payments made for publishing services should also be subject to a cooling off period, where artists and the public have the right to a refund. In addition, the DTI and Advertising Standards Authority must be more proactive and assume the power to prevent false claims by publishers on the internet. These changes will enable valuable services to continue to operate and provide greater protection from companies charging inflated fees for services on the false promise of work that never materialises.
• We will continue to work with the industry and Government to develop a distinction enabling legitimate publication and directory services to operate separately from employment agents; end the use of all up-front fees (including up-front book fees) by genuine employment agents; and return to the Government's original proposal, that entertainment agents should only deduct sums from workers' earnings out of work found.