The concept of compensation to authors for reuse of their work was first established in Europe in the 19th Century. Residuals in the United States began in the early days of live radio, when actors had to perform twice: once for the Eastern time zone, and again three hours later for the Pacific time audiences. With the advent of recording technology, the networks would just record the first performance and replay it later. The talent Guilds successfully demanded that their members receive compensation for those rebroadcasts. The DGA, along with the other talent Guilds, negotiated residuals for domestic reuse of TV programs by the mid-1950s. 1961 saw the first residuals for feature films and 1968 ushered in residuals for foreign reuse of television programs. 1971 saw the first payments for videocassettes and pay television reuse. In 1981, Made for Pay TV residuals were negotiated and in 1999, residuals for high budget dramas on basic cable came into effect.

The Guild also collects money from beyond our borders in the form of Foreign Levies. Foreign levies are payments the DGA receives from European collection societies that stem from taxes and levies imposed on blank cassettes, recording devices and rentals. Since the program’s inception in 1990, the DGA has collected tens of millions in foreign levies from various European countries. A more in-depth report on the Foreign Levies program, its history and impact will be published in an upcoming issue of DGA Monthly.

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To ensure that members receive what they are due requires a great amount of strategic planning and hard work. The Guild starts working to protect your residuals before you start work on a project. For most productions, the DGA Signatories and Reports Compliance Department ensures that potential signatory companies are vetted by the Guild so that residuals will actually be paid when due years in the future, when the production company may have long since released its interest in the film or gone out of business altogether. These “financial assurances” most commonly are in the form of assumption agreements and guarantees from parent companies, security agreements, and residual reserves. This process can be complex and contentious, but it has saved Guild members and the Pension Plan millions of dollars in residual payments. By working with the Guild, even the lowest production budget levels have been able to meet residuals obligations. And in 1998, the DGA successfully championed historic legislation in the US Congress that ensured that when ownership of films is transferred, new owners or distributors would be legally obligated to pay residuals to directors, writers and actors as provided by their collectively bargained agreements.

Companies report earnings to the Guild and are required to send checks made payable to members to the Guild for transmittal to the members. Last year the Department processed nearly 280,000 residuals transactions. Once the checks arrive, the 16 members of the DGA Residuals Department staff use the back-up information that is attached to log the payment details into the DGA Residuals system and then the checks are mailed to the members. This task helps the Guild verify the accuracy of the payments and determine that all payments are being made when they are due.

The DGA Residuals Department monitors industry compliance with the reuse provisions of the DGA's negotiated agreements, and aggressively enforces these agreements worldwide via computerized policing systems, audit programs and claims mechanisms which target producers who fail to meet their obligations. If the Residuals Department identifies a delinquency which the production company or distributor refuses to pay, they call on the Guild’s Legal Department to pursue the delinquency by filing a claim for arbitration. These claims can lead to court judgments and foreclosures, if necessary. The Guild also represents members' residuals interests related to bankruptcy filings and library acquisitions.

While the DGA makes every attempt to cover every project without the need for member assistance, should you have any questions about a project or believe you are owed residual payments you have not received, please contact the DGA Residuals Department at 310-289-2060.