Membership Copies - Business Magazines
Membership Copies [Print/Digital]
A single copy of an official Society publication distributed to a member of that society.
Note: ‘Society’ throughout this section refers to the Society, Association or Organisation as appropriate.
Principles
1. The publication is an official publication of the Society
Requirements
1. The publication is an official publication of the Society
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You must be able to provide evidence that the publication is:
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An official publication of the Society; or
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Circulated as a member benefit of the Society
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2. Single copy of an issue distributed to an individual who is a member of the Society (or an employee nominated under a corporate society membership)
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Corporate members are members of the Society (companies or organisations) who pay the membership fee or fees and nominate employees as recipients of the publication. These recipients may be claimed as Society circulation.
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Evidence of the individual’s Society membership (or organisation’s corporate membership and nominated employees) must be available.
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You must be able to demonstrate the copy is distributed to the individual.
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You must retain a list of individual recipients for one designated issue each reporting period (the Audit Issue – see General Principles and Record Keeping section). In addition you must be able to recreate a list for any issue in the reporting period on request.
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You cannot claim distribution of back issues.
Note: If you’re claiming digital copies, please also refer to the additional requirements in the Digital Copies section.
Reporting
1. You will report Membership Copies as follows, which will be broken out on the ABC Certificate:
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Audit Issue by geographical type:
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United Kingdom
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Other Countries
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2. The Society/Societies name(s) will also be reported on the ABC Certificate, identifying whether the publication is an official publication and/or is circulated as a member benefit of the Society.
Guidance
G2. Single copy of an issue distributed to an individual who is a member of the Society (or an employee nominated under a corporate society membership)
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You must be able to prove copies have been distributed to members of the society. Evidence of membership will be requested for a sample of addressees at the audit. This evidence may be:
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By locating the addressee in a published list of society members, which covers the period of the Audit Issue.
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If the publisher is the society, by providing evidence that the addressee has paid their society membership fee for the period covering the Audit Issue.
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If the publisher is third-party to the society, written confirmation from the society that the sampled addressees were members at the date of distribution of the Audit Issue. Note: If you are publishing the publication for the society on a contract basis we will not consider you third party for ABC purposes – this means written confirmation from the society will not be acceptable as audit evidence of society membership.
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Corporate membership example. 'A Ltd.' is a corporate member of Alpha Society. Four copies, addressed to individuals by name, are sent to four different people at A Ltd. These would constitute four valid corporate copies. Multiple copies to a single addressee cannot be claimed.