Determined, angry mood among US film and television writers

A principal point of contention between the writers and the AMPTP is the payment of “residuals”—i.e., compensation for the re-airing of films and television shows—on DVD and the internet. Due to a formula accepted by the WGA in 1985, writers currently make $0.03 or $0.036 cents on the dollar of every DVD sold, depending upon total wholesale revenues. Initially peddled to the WGA membership as part of an effort to help the media companies develop home video sales, the rate has meant that writers were largely left out of the boom in profits experienced by the film and television studios during the 1990s.

Currently, the hottest area of entertainment expansion is the internet and other forms of telecommunications, whereby viewers can download movies and television shows free of charge. Writers are not compensated for the distribution of their work through this medium, a situation that the AMPTP members insist must remain in place. The producers claim that it is impossible to predict how profitable Internet distribution will be, and therefore no rate can be set for compensating writers.