Directors push for copyright slice of the screen pie

Thursday, 7 August 2025

Directors of screen work are advocating for a law change that would give them shared copyright ownership of films and TV shows with producers.

The change would bring New Zealand in line with countries within the United Kingdom and Europe, the union representing directors says, and give directors new legal and economic rights to their creative work and help them be paid a royalty.

But the Government, which is reviewing the Copyright Act, says the scope of what parts of the Act could be updated has not yet been decided ‒ nor has any time frame been committed to.

It comes amid a sluggish picture for the local screen industry, which has faced turbulence in recent years in the form of limited funding, industrial action in Hollywood, talks of tariffs, disruption from Covid-19 and changing audience behaviour.

The Copyright Act in New Zealand currently gives ownership of the rights of screen work to producers, which means directors ‒ despite being principle creatives ‒ have no control over how their work is used after it’s made. If a producer goes bankrupt, directors have limited legal standing to protect their interests.

They also miss out on financial benefits they should get, said Tui Ruwhiu, the executive director of the Directors and Editors Guild and an independent producer.

Giving directors shared copyright would strengthen their case to earn secondary royalties from a film or TV show’s resale or relicensing, Ruwhiu said, which would in turn make the directing career more sustainable.

In many cases presently the royalty decision boils down to the discretion of a producer.

The union believes the amendment is justified given the work a director puts in and considers the exclusion a legal anomaly.

With fragmenting audiences and plummeting ad revenue causing a downturn in domestic production, and a global purse tightening decreasing the amount of international productions, fewer Kiwi directors were in employment today ‒ and people were moving offshore to chase opportunities.

“It’s generally tougher now than it’s ever been,” Ruwhiu said.

Rates of pay for directors of New Zealand drama had not increased in a decade despite the ballooning cost of living, said Caroline Bell-Booth, a director known for work including Power Rangers Dino Fury (2021) and The Brokenwood Mysteries (2014).

A law change would represent an acknowledgement of the aesthetic and philosophical work directors undertook in bringing scripts to life, protecting the integrity of screen projects and their telling New Zealand stories in ways that feel true and enticing, Bell-Booth said.

While it’s easy to look at the celebrated successes of Dame Jane Campion, Sir Peter Jackson and Taika Waititi and think directing is a glitzy career, Bell-Booth says the reality for most is that it’s a lot less lucrative.

Many directors have no job security, inconsistent work and have to supplement their income through other means. “I don’t think really hard covers it,” she said. “It’s almost impossible. … A lot of colleagues are not able to support themselves.”

Bell-Booth’s own work stream this year was about a third of what it had been at this point in past years.

The law change would also help ensure directors were not being exploited ‒ although she noted the argument for shared copyright should not pit directors against producers, who the former work closely with across long hours.

The screen producers guild declined to comment for this story.

While the Government was obligated to make certain amendments to the Copyright Act because of the free trade agreement it signed with the European Union, there was also scope to make other changes, Minister for Commerce and Consumer Affairs Scott Simpson said.

In considering any potential changes to make the Act more fit for purpose, it was important to balance the interests of others “so they can confidently access, consume, adapt and preserve works in a manner that benefits society as whole”, Simpson said.

Mid 2028 is the deadline for enacting any changes to the Act.