[Air-L] writers striking for internet payment?

[Donna Bulford]

AS a business development executive in interactive and digital media, I have been dealing with the WGA strike.  My office is in Hollywood proper so one day on the way to lunch I was entertained with  the actual strike parade.  I even walked by Debra Messing on the street and got some free cider and scones from the junior CAA agents that were standing in as client support for the striking writers.  AS you might imagine, the affair had more the flavor of a networking event than a stand up for an issue flavor to me.

I am a part of the LA Interactive club and I have been asking them for ages to draft up a formal position on the strike.  Since there is no formal position on the writers strike for the Interactive community let me tell you what I think as a member of t he interactive community:  the writers do not have a right to these residuals they demand. The  beauty of this strike, is that they are just making themselves appear more out of touch and opening the door even wider for digital content and talent that we see on the likes of you tube, and user generated content sites.  I have  noticed that the EFF consistently takes a position opposite to the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), which is the final say in ethical business practice for on line commerce and advertising, so even if the EFF had a position I would bet my next Cost Per Click commission check that it would be anti business, just like their stance on behavioral targeting or the FTC proposed Do Not Tag list for Internet Advertising.    

Long story short, the Writers are just grabbing on to the nearest gravy train, I mean they havent had anything to do with the world of online Entertainment until they've been dragged into it?  Where were they when the Digital Millenium Copyright Act was being drafted, where were they when the FTC investigated the Lead Generation Practice of ValueClick one  of the biggest advertising brokers on line, and where were they when the IAB made audience measurement regulation mandatory? They dont care about the Web or the Internet or monetizing it in a sustainable way, so their strike is boring.   


d bulford - MA New Media New School Univeristy


On Wednesday, January 02, 2008, at 11:39AM, "Tuszynski, Stephanie" <stuszyn at UTNet.UToledo.Edu> wrote:
>Marcela -
>
>As a writer/director myself, I've been following the WGA strike very closely. 
>
>Screenwriters are compensated at the rate of one-third of a penny for every digital download (i.e. iTunes), and nothing for streaming video.  The networks are claiming when they stream a television show on their websites it's a "promotion" and therefore the current contract doesn't require them to pay the writers/actors/etc. The television writers feel they are not being fairly compensated. Neither are the actors or directors, for that matter.
>
>This is only one of the issues at stake, however. Residuals for DVD sales (which are currently at $.04 per disc) and other terms of the contract which expired in October are also on the table. 
>
>I don't really see how the EFF would have any interest in this, as this is a business practice issue, not a legal one. There's no law requiring the AMPTP to pay anyone any specific rate for digital content. There's no question of access or legal activity, just corporations behaving badly because they think they can. 
>
>I can tell you that the SEIU, the teamsters local in LA and both the Screen Actor's Guild and Director's Guilds are all supporting the WGA. The actors and directors have as much a stake in this as the writers, obviously. 
>
>A completely partisan site on behalf of the WGA is www.unitedhollywood.com 
>
>Also, for those of you who heard about the strike and like me immediately thought of all the craftspeople and below the line crew who are now out of work while the strike goes on, The Motion Picture & Television Fund has set up a Work Stoppage relief fund to help those people. You can donate online here:
>
>http://new.mptvfund.org/cm/Foundation/Donate%20Online.html
>
>
>Stephanie Tuszynski
>Visiting Assistant Professor
>Department of Theatre and Film
>University of Toledo
>www.dlfilms.com
>
>
>Message: 1
>Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 20:58:38 -0500
>From: "Marcela Musgrove" <mmusgrove at gmail.com>
>Subject: [Air-L] writers striking for internet payment?
>To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org
>Message-ID:
>	<a000d0c60712311758v70bc62b9t5bafe3eb197c9041 at mail.gmail.com>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
>I hadn't really been paying attention to the writer's strike going on but
>just found out today that it's over writers wanting to be paid residuals
>when their TV shows are shown on the internet. So now I'm surprised that
>there hasn't been more online discussion/activism/petitions though I was
>able to see some videos on YouTube that explained what was going on. Has
>anyone been following this closely?  Would this be relevant to EFF or any of
>the other advocacy groups?
>
>Happy new year!
>
>Marcela
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