A lot of people probably don’t understand why the Writer’s Guild or America is on strike or why that this strike is critical in the world of entertainment.

The strike has to do with being compensated for broadcasts on the internet.  Writer’s, actors, and others who are involved with the overall production of a show get paid when the show is initially broadcast.  They also get paid for reruns.  The internet is quickly becoming another distribution vehicle for their work.  As of right now, they do not get paid for this.

This would be fine except that the networks are selling ads (generating revenue) from these broadcasts.  So the networks are getting paid, but they aren’t willing to give a fair cut to the writers, actors, producers, etc.

This is why they are on strike- they want their fair share for their work.  These people do make money on their shows, but working in the entertainment industry is not a steady business.  It isn’t uncommon for an actor or writer to not work for a long time.  Not that they don’t want to work, it is just that they can’t find it.  During these times, their residuals from reruns, dvds, etc. help them get by (not all of them are wealthy).

The other guilds’ contracts are up for negotiation soon.  The writers are helping set the precedent for these other negotiations.  When the networks agree to pay them for broadcasting their work on the net (and they will), it will make the other contracts that much easier to move forward.

Here are the writers from The Office talking about the strike.  They look familiar?  That’s because they also act on the show.  Here is Jenna Fischer’s blog post about the strike.

Tags: television //