KIM WILCOX | features editor
photo | TIM POSADA
Writers protest outside El Capitan Theater
in hopes of being heard.


Writers in Hollywood have a right to demand residual payments for their work.

On November 5, 2007 the Writer’s Guild of America East (WGAE) and Writer’s Guild of America West (WGAW) took on the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in an effort to get writers the residuals they deserve from re-runs shown on the internet and episodes downloaded from online sites.

Members of the WGAE and WGAW have since placed themselves in front of major studios in Hollywood. They carry signs and chant sayings about the unfair payment for their work. And they are right. The writers of America, the men and women who bring you entertainment on demand, deserve the four cents more per DVD sold that they are asking for.

The writers created a small film for YouTube which explains their reasons for striking. When writers create scripts for a show they are paid when it airs on TV or is placed on DVD. Writers also receive residual payment for any re-runs of the show that air on television, but only as a result of the last strike in 1988. It lasted for nearly 22 weeks before the associations could reach an agreement.

According to WGA, the writers are paid four cents for every $19.99 DVD that is sold. They receive no payment for shows that are sold on i-Tunes or are shown on websites like ABC.com.

The writers are asking that they be paid double what they make for the release of DVD’s and when their shows are streamlined onto the internet they would like to receive the same payment from them as they receive from TV. When a movie or TV show is aired on television the writers are paid two and a half cents for every dollar the studio makes off the movie.

As for downloads the AMPTP has offered the writers that same four cents they are already making for DVD’s.

That is still a lot right? Are the writers being really greedy here and keeping us from seeing some of our favorite TV shows?

No. Writers are artists. The movies, television shows, daytime soap operas and late night TV scripts that they write are original creations and they should expect to get paid for those works of art. When musicians write songs, they are paid every time the song plays on the radio, every time someone records it and every time the song is reproduced for other artists.

Similarly, professional athletes are paid enormous amounts of money every time they play a game. So when you are viewing a show online, should not the writer behind that show be paid as well? If the studio responsible for creating and producing the show is receiving compensation, so should the writers.

This strike has already lasted 11 weeks, but the WGAE, WGAW and AMPTP are still in communication with one another. In the first few weeks many actors and actresses came out to support the men and women writers on the picket lines.

However, due to the length of this strike, many have had to return to their jobs. The late night television shows have returned to normal programming, with hosts writing all of their own material.

Unfortunately, if the strike continues for much longer, many television shows will end this month. However, many viewers can anticipate seeing re-runs in place of once treasured shows. To top it off, networks announced there would not be a Golden Globes ceremony this year.

Television’s night for the best dressed and motion picture was cancelled because actors and actresses said they would not cross picket lines. Instead, the awards were handed out in press conference fashion with winners announced without performances from artists or witty lines from presenters.

As a writer I am proud of the WGA for stepping up and fighting for their writers. Television writers do not make money off the number of books they sell or the number of CD’s they release. Instead they rely on viewers and major studios for their very often uncertain and uneven income. To deny them compensation for their work is refusing to give an artist credit for his art.

I am not saying writers are paupers and should be pitied for the little income they receive. I am merely saying that when it comes down to it, they earn what they are requesting. They wrote shows that you laugh at, cry for and thoroughly enjoy. Therefore, don’t they deserve to get paid for that creation every time you decide to watch it, even online?