The WGA's Secret Treasure Trove

Posted on September 20, 2005

The New York Times has an interesting article about all the writers who have unclaimed money sitting in the Writers Guild West coffers. Lots of famous authors are listed on the site's directory as having unclaimed fees, including Tom Clancy and the late Paul Gallico.

So where did all this money come from? Apparently from so-called "foreign levies," which come from VCR, DVD and Internet technology (unlike in America, people in many foreigh countries pay taxes or assessments on movie rentals and the authors get a cut. As is usual with the Writers Guild, there are lawsuits and disputes. Apparently, some writers claim the Guild is illegally holding the money for writers who aren't union members. The Guild says it hasn't done anything wrong, it simply couldn't find these people and so listed them in a database. It's certainly true that Tom Clancy is quite the man of mystery. Who knows how in the world one might contact him. It's not like he has an attorney, a publisher or an accountant. But we digress....

The Times article cites guild officials who say about $6 million had been classified as undeliverable as of April. They also say that as much as 40% of another $18 million held in trust is expected to eventually fall into the undeliverable category.

So, here's the deal. If you think you might have some money owed you for a screenplay that might have played outside the U.S., head over the Writer's Guild website, click where it says "Services," click where it says "Uncollected Monies" and search diligently to find the database to see if you're in it. If you are, follow the instructions, fill out the lengthy forms, and mail them in. We really wish the writers would quit suing each other...can't we all just get along?