As audio-visual performers, BECS members have long suffered a discriminatory position in terms of performers’ rights in comparison to rights enjoyed by musicians and other sound recording artists.  BECS has been campaigning hard to rectify this.

We now finally have a chance with the Beijing Treaty which came into force on 28th April 2020.  Our BECS Chair, Jean Rogers, was in Beijing in 2012 when the Beijing Treaty was approved – see video below.  To learn more about the Beijing Treaty, please click here.

We now need you, our members, to get your voices heard.  Together we can get the UK Government to ultimately ratify the Treaty.  To achieve this, we request each member to write to their MP to support a cross party Early Day Motion (EDM), with Caroline Lucas (Green Party) as the Primary sponsor, which was published on 14th July 2020.  Even just one or two emails from constituents will make the MPs pay attention and more than that will hugely increase the chances of them signing.

We have emailed you a standard template which you can use to send to your MP and have also included this below. You can find the contact details of your representative via this link.

 

 

Dear xName of MPx,

I am writing to you as a constituent asking for your support with an EDM published on 14/07/2020 regarding audio-visual performers’ rights.  Audio-visual performers like myself have long been discriminated against in terms of the rights, both economic and moral, enjoyed by other creatives.  We finally have an opportunity to redress this and ask for the Government’s early ratification of the Beijing Treaty which came into force in April 2020.

As my MP, your support is requested by signing this EDM (https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/57246/audiovisual-performers-rights).

If you do not sign EDMs, I would like you to write on my behalf to the relevant Government Minister, enclosing a copy of the motion and asking for their response. Please send me their reply.

Kind regards,

 

Name of Actor

Address of Actor