So why are they striking?

[icarus]

On the WGA strike.

femmequixotic tells us what it's about. The producers/studios won't budge.

The bit in the contract that the producers/studios are holding out over? Negotiations that double the writers' residuals on DVDs, bringing it up from four cents per disk to eight--a number that was devised in 1985 because of the high cost of producing VHS tapes--and negotiations that give the writer residuals on new media and Internet downloads--which they don't get at all right now. The studios have suggested that Internet residuals should be the same as the current DVD residuals. For content that doesn't cost anything to put on a media format.

WGA cooperated, took the DVD residual increase off the table. But the studios still wouldn't budge on Internet downloads.

I suspect the studios are holding out because they hope that with the increase Internet downloads (we all know that's where the DVD rental market is going to go), they can hang on to an increasing margin of profits. If they can do it, the writers won't get jack for their work as DVDs and VHS tapes are replaced by online downloads.

Greedy bastards.

From where I sit, producers want a bigger slice of the pie with an eye to long-term profits. They're willing to kill a few shows and hang on the fan albatross on the WGA's neck. And, oh, hey lookie. Guess who owns a lot of the media outfits that are covering the story?

Comments

[percysowner.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. The issues that affect the actors and the writers seem to line up a lot. Maybe in the past that wasn't true, but now the residuals and new distribution issues affect both sides. I would love to see them team up, it would give both sides more clout.