I’ve been trying to learn more about the Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers strike. Much of what I’ve read or heard about the reasons for the strike seem to be contradict other things I’ve read or heard about the strike. I found a list of points at the WGA.org website. Here’s a quick summery of the main sticking points:
- Home Video (Videocassettes and DVDs) Residuals - They currently get 0.3% of the distributors’ gross for the first $1 million and 0.36% thereafter. They want 0.6% of the distributors’ gross for the first $1 million and 0.72% thereafter.
- Non-Traditional Media Residuals - They currently get .3% of the gross for downloads where the customer pays for the download. They currently get paid nothing when the customer pays nothing. They want a residual payment of 2.5% of the distributor’s gross for re-use on non-traditional media, including the Internet. I’m not sure what they want to be paid when the content is free. It’s hard to assign a percentage to free.
If you go back and watch the YouTube video I posted the other day from the people from The Office, what they say in the video seems to contradict the information found on the WGA website. B.J. Novak, actor and writer for The Office, says that every time he meets a new viewer to The Office, they are watching it on the Internet or on DVD. I’m assuming that when they say they were watching it on the Internet, they were downloading the episodes from iTunes. Only recently did NBC start streaming episodes from free. The inference is that Novak and the other writers aren’t getting paid for the episodes on the Internet or on DVD.
That’s not true. If money changes hands, the writers are getting a percentage.
Writers currently receive NO compensation for anything seen on the internet. Nothing. What the writers are trying to get is 2.5% of whatever the studios/producers get.
Also, writers do not get a percentage of DVD/home video rentals/sales. They only receive 4 cents for every DVD sold. They’re trying to get that amount raised to 8 cents for every DVD.
When the downloads are free for consumers, NBC is still getting cash from advertisers.
NBC is basically getting a free ride if they charge nothing to consumers- they don’t have to pay the writers but they get to pocket the ad cash.
This is basically a story about the little guy (the writers) getting crapped on by the big guy (large corporations owned and operated by penny-pinching millionaires).
No matter how you slice it, the writers are getting shafted. The studios are making money at the writer’s expense.
There never have been free downloads. I’m not sure that NBC is actually making any money when they stream content for free. Streaming TV shows costs money. Does the paid advertising even cover the cost of the bandwidth? What if NBC is actually losing money when they stream TV shows? Should the writers help pay to defray some of the costs?
The people that are getting shafted in all this are all the workers that got laid off because of this strike. Those are truly the little guys in all this.
mightymite, according to the WGA website, the writers do get a percentage of every DVD sold. They want a bigger percentage.
Large corporations wouldn’t be giving content away “free” if they weren’t making a buck on it. They aren’t in the business of spreading good will and cheer.
I thought The Office had free “webisodes” last year.
They stream the episodes for free as a promotion. You can say large corporations don’t give anything away for free, but it’s the writers that are the ones that seem to have the problem with it.
What I mean is that the networks and studios are still taking in money in the form of ad revenue when they give away free content. There are usually ads before and/or during the shows.
If the writers are asked to write more content, they deserve the same deal that other talent gets for doing the same thing.
The writers get paid for the same work at least two different times. The first is their salary and it applies when they initially perform the work. The second is in the form of a residual when the final result of their work is released.
One of the problems is that the writer’s residual has always been based on the gross and not the net. It’s never been based on how much profit the networks or studios make. Its never been about sharing in the profits. By basing their residual on the gross, the writers are getting their cut even if the fruit of their labor fails to turn a profit.
Even if streaming episodes online with paid advertising fails to actually make any profit, the writers still want a percentage of the gross.
I think it all comes down to the writers simply wanting more money. I get that. I would like more money too, especially if I could get it without doing anymore work then I am doing right now. The thing is, there are a lot of people suffering right now because of the writers and their desire for more money. I feel sorry for all the people that got laid off because of this. Its gotta suck to get laid off right before the holidays.
"The thing is, there are a lot of people suffering right now because of the writers and their desire for more money." Right, but this is the line of discussion we’re simply not supposed to pursue, Rick. As you saw earlier in the week on The Beat, anytime someone even suggests that the writer’s strike doesn’t have Norma Rae dimensions of working class nobility, you’re quickly shouted down by the zealots.
Bringing up the hordes of laid off workers just isn’t part of the official storyline, so beware the True Believers and their apologists for daring to talk about it.
They are doing more work than they were before- they are developing more content for “New Media” like VHS and the Internet.
Rick, I’m sure if your boss said that he/she was going to add a new responsibility to your job and pay you for it someday, maybe, you would also not be too pleased.
Strikes do affect a lot of people. And it’s a shame that it is near the holidays. Why not take a right-wing view of things: retailers always need help at Christmas time, so there’s plenty of work to be had.
Also, generally speaking, anyone who uses the word “apologists” is full of shit.
Looking at Mark’s entry, I think I marked off at least 4 spots on my Republican bingo card. Good thing I already have the “Mission Accomplished!” free space in the middle!
"Also, generally speaking, anyone who uses the word “apologists” is full of shit."
Truly, wisdom for the ages.
Rick, I’m sure if your boss said that he/she was going to add a new responsibility to your job and pay you for it someday, maybe, you would also not be too pleased.
That’s not a good example in that I have constantly held positions where I was constantly taking on new responsibilities. It’s called having a job.
How exactly are the writers doing more work? Nobody is saying that they should not be paid for the work they do. The writers just want more money. I get that. I’m just not going to ignore the fact that their desire for more money is forcing thousands of other people to lose their job around the holidays. People that don’t get to complain about the size of their residuals because they never have had residuals.
I think it’s great that Tina Fey has gone out on the picket line and picketed with the writers. Something tells me though that she will still be able to buy her family Christmas presents this year. I can’t say the same for the people that were laid off because of this strike.
The writers’ complaint is that they aren’t receiving enough money for their writing- in the case of VHS sales, they were promised more money that never appeared.
In the case of internet shit, they’re writing more stuff and not getting anything for it.
If you are taking more responsibilities on at work without being compensated for it, you might want to have a chat with your boss.
The fact that some other people are out of work because of the strike is really a misdirection here. I feel bad for those people, but I also feel bad for the writers.
This is totally like the shit that happened in the comics industry years ago. I know because Sloofus told me so.
In the case of the VHS/DVD releases, it’s not even that the writers were “promised more money.” They took a cut from their regular percentages (I think their royalties for VHS/DVD were dropped by 80% from their previous percentages) because VHS tapes were a ‘new, untried medium’ and the industry wanted to make sure it was going to stick around before dumping too much money into it.
Well, anyone can see that the medium is here to stay (or, rather, ‘format’), but the writers were never given back their original percentage points.
A better analogy would be if your boss said, “Hey pal, we are going to try out some really risky stuff at work, and as a sign of your loyalty/cooperation, we’re asking you take a voluntary price cut because we’re not sure if this move will pretty much bankrupt us.”
Twenty years later, the company’s stocks are going through the roof, and your salary never gets back to its original state.
The internet factors in because the writers see the same situation coming again. Just because the networks don’t charge the consumer for the content, doesn’t mean they aren’t making money off of it. As Schooly pointed out, there is adspace on it. Technically, we don’t pay NBC, CBS, or anyone else directly for their shows. It’s all through our cable company, which is (in many cases) the exact same way our television shows are being distributed to us.
It’s true that the writers are not really coming up with “more material,” in most cases. In the case of the Office webisodes (which I never saw), I would say that stuff genuinely is promotional. They want to increase their audience, so they throw this bone out. Just so long as the actors do not receive pay, that’s cool. But showing entire episodes online, with ads, is pretty much the exact same thing as network television.
As for it all putting other people out of work, that part truly does suck completely. I don’t think anyone would disagree with that. I am sort of on the fence with this whole topic, but the fact that the writers were never given back what was promised to them sways my vote over to their side.
Also, Tina Fey is pretty hot.
If you are taking more responsibilities on at work without being compensated for it, you might want to have a chat with your boss.
Who said I wasn’t compensated for my work? I get a paycheck every week. I get paid for the work I do. Just like the writers. To say they don’t get paid for the work they do is incorrect. The writers have always been paid for their work. Quite handsomely in fact.
What’s at stake here is the extra money. The money they are paid above and beyond their normal pay for the work they performed. They simply want more of it. I get that. I understand that. I also understand the whole picture.
I also understood why the baseball players went on strike. That doesn’t mean I felt sorry for them. If you truly feel sorry for the writers, that’s your choice.
I am sort of on the fence with this whole topic, but the fact that the writers were never given back what was promised to them sways my vote over to their side.
That doesn’t make your bullshit detector go off? That they were promised more money 20+ years ago? Personally I question stuff like that because I realize everything between the writers and the producers is documented in writing and backed up by contracts.
If the writers were truly promised more extra money 20+ years ago, I would imagine they would have that promise in writing.
I’m not against the writers or anyone else for that matter getting more money. More money is good. I just have to wonder if they aren’t shooting themselves in the foot. Last year, six of the top-10 most watched shows were non-scripted reality shows. Last night as I was watched Survivor, CBS ran a commercial looking for people to audition for the reality show Big Brother. It’s a show CBS always runs in the summer. Why would they be looking for people this early? My guess is that they want to put out Big Brother a lot sooner.
Fact: The networks and studios are getting huge revenue for internet downloads. Even if they offer free downloads.
Fact: The studios promised the writers a larger residual when the vhs sales took off.
Fact: The studios never increased their residuals.
Fact: Most of the writers affected are no longer writing.
Fact: The current writers agreed to a 4 cent per dvd/vhs residual.
Fact: They want more.
Fact: The strike is affecting more people than the writers.
Fact: It’s come during the holidays.
Fact: The studios could have addressed the issues as far back as January, but did not.
Fact: The studios are saying the writers are being unreasonable with their request.
Fact: The writer’s are asking for 4 cents per DVD and 2.5% of other types of media.
Fact: Writers get paid for the work they do, initially. Residuals are bonus.
What is not shown here, is that in the publishing world, a writer gets several dollars per book. And while this is brought out by the WGA, what is not brought out, is that is all the author gets, usually. Of course, if a second or subsequent printing is made, the author gets royalties off that.
Personally, I don’t think the writers are being unreasonable. Asking for another 4 cents per DVD is not enough to hurt the actual price of a DVD. (it probably will, because all those pennies add up, and it translates to lost revenue. So we consumers will undoubtedly be asked to pay an additional buck per dvd; to pay for the 4 cent increase).
I dont know whether asking for 2.5% of internet, mp3, or whatever future form of media may be is asking too much or not. Since the studios arent paying anything now, it will undoubtedly hurt. Something should be paid. 2.5% doesn’t seem like a lot, percentage-wise.
I think its the studios who are being unreasonable. But, then again, its not me paying the bills.
Oh, wait. Yes it is.