Authors' Licensing & Collecting Society

Mission & Goals

Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a not-for-profit membership organisation started by writers for the benefit of writers. We’re open to all types of writer, and owned by our members. We collect money that’s due to our members for secondary uses of their work. These might include things like photocopies, cable retransmission, digital reproduction and educational recording. These sorts of rights typically bring in small amounts of money that are difficult for writers to monitor individually, so the most effective way to gather them is collectively. It takes tireless investigation, as well as experience and expertise. But nowadays, with the help of our bespoke IT systems, we can collect money from all over the world through agreements with over 55 different societies in more than 40 countries. We then pay this to our members whose works are being used. We also campaign and lobby on matters important to writers - both at a national and international level.