WGA Members Ratify New Contract

Posted on February 26, 2008

WGA members from both Writers Guild of America East and Writers Guild of America West voted overwhelmingly to ratify the new contract that came as a result of the 100-day long writer's strike. An overwhelming majority of the WGA membership voted in favor of ratifying the three-year contract by 93.6 percent of 4,060 votes cast. The term of the new agreement is from February 13, 2008 through May 1, 2011.

"This contract is a new beginning for writers in the Digital Age," said Patric M. Verrone, president of the WGAW. "It ensures that Guild members will be fairly compensated for the content they create for the Internet, and it also covers the reuse on new media platforms of the work they have done in film since 1971 and in TV since 1977. That's a huge body of work that will continue to generate revenue for our members for many years to come as it is distributed electronically."
"The 2008 Minimum Basic Agreement is groundbreaking on many levels," said Michael Winship, president of the WGAE. "Not only does it establish Writers Guild jurisdiction in new media, it gives writers the same separated rights provisions in new media enjoyed by the creators of original TV and motion picture scripts, as well as residuals for the reuse of movies and television programs on the Internet and in new media. Those residuals will be based on 'distributor's gross' - real money for our members – that we'll be able to audit and monitor more effectively than ever before."
The contract breaks new ground for writers by:

establishing WGA jurisdiction over writing for new media
giving writers "separated rights" in new media content (separated rights are the contractual rights traditionally enjoyed by writers of original television and motion picture scripts)
establishing residual payments for new media reuse of covered material, including Internet downloads and ad-supported streaming of feature films and television programs
establishing "distributor's gross" as the basis for calculating new media residual payments
creating meaningful access to information and auditing tools that will allow the WGA to monitor the development of new media markets

You can read the full press release from the WGA on its website here.