The Writer's Guild Strike

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The Writer's Guild Strike

The Writers Guild of America began their strike on November the fifth, two thousand and seven. This strike may change the entertainment industry’s principals and the way we receive our media. Why should you care? I’ll tell you.   Back in the nineteen eighties, videos were just coming into use in households across America. Major Hollywood studios asked the writers to take a cut on their pay; this would aid the new fledgling market of VHS. Eager to expand the business, the writers took an eighty percent cut out of their residuals; this was done with the understanding that once the video market matured and came into its own, the writers would be given this hefty eighty percent that they had given up.   Twenty long years have come and passed, and whilst VHS has led to DVD, sales have soared higher and higher. The eighty percent pay cut however, has remained the same. So when an American today walks into their local store and purchases a DVD for twenty dollars, you’d be surprised to find that the writer, responsible for the core of that creative work you’ve bought, gets a whopping four cents!   So what happens if sometime in the near future television and the internet merge together? The studios will undoubtedly refuse to pay anything but the unfair internet rate, causing the writers to forever lose eighty percent of their royalties, if not all of them.   Because forty eight percent of Writers Guild members are unemployed at any time, residuals are far more than just extra cash. They’re a lifesaver. Allowing writers in dire financial straits to keep them from losing their house or losing their health insurance!   The writers’ strike has so far lasted over 6 weeks, a similar strike in nineteen eighty eight was arranged and lasted for twenty two weeks, costing the American entertainment industry an estimated five hundred million dollars! The effect of the Writers Guild strike has been huge, many shows have halted their productions immediately, and networks have been airing...

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  • Submitted by: kyanite
  • Date Submitted: 03/15/2009 04:27 PM
  • Category: Music and Movies
  • Words: 598
  • Pages: 3
  • Views: 81
  • Popularity Rank: 9970

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