UK actors’ union Equity loses legal case against casting directory Spotlight

Actors’ union Equity has lost its long-running legal case against casting directory Spotlight over its use of membership fees.

The dispute between the two UK bodies has raged on for almost two years, with Equity calling for Spotlight to be considered an employment agency by law and criticising its charging of a fee regardless of whether the actor finds work.

In a decision handed down in London’s High Court, Judge Catherine Howells dismissed Equity’s claim that Spotlight should be classed as an “employment agency” and confirmed that the directory is “a marketing tool” and “a number of steps away from a service for the purpose of finding persons employment. The ambit and role of Spotlight’s directory is narrow”.

The ruling continued, “If, by analogy (and I accept that no analogy is perfec