WGA on strike. Solidarity Baby!

So the talks failed, and WGA has taken up the picket line. Good on them.

The writer gets about 4 cents for each DVD package sold in residuals, be it a 9.95 bargain disc by the register at Fred Meyer, or a $60 six disc set of a TV show. No difference between the two at all. The writers aren't even asking to fix that. They basically want 8 cents per unit instead, and considering how the current numbers were devised in 1984 when VHS and Beta were still slugging it out, I think that a 4 cent raise is a reasonable request.

They also want a piece of internet revenue. The studios say "it's to new, untested, and not yet profitable" which is basically the same line they used to give as little as possible to the writers on home video in the first place.

This isn't just one group of rich assholes picketing another for spite. A lot of these guys are the working stiffs of the industry, pulling in $30,000 to $45,000 a year (which in LA will allow you to afford a lovely one bedroom apartment in Compton). These negotiations will also affect the director's and actor's union negotiations next year: they get the same cut from home video as the writers, and they'll rightfully want their share.

The studios will make noise about how this is "irresponsible", which every company being striked against says any how. They'll also try to tell us that this will force the price of DVDs to go up, which is most likely bullshit. They've found a price point that works, and they know it will substantially hurt their bottom line if they add $2 to the price of every DVD.

There's not much we as consumers can do to help right now, aside from not buying DVDs (Doctor Who is okay, as it's BBC) or internet content until the strike is over. We can however, write about it, and spread the word. The studios make 150 billion + off of the home video market, which is more than what they pull in off of theatres nowadays. It's time they paid their fair share.