Writers Guild strike over Internet revenue

[Lincoln]

<a href="http://www.forbes.com/leadership/2007/11/06/hollywood-media-television-biz-media-cx_lr_1107strike.html" target="_blank">Why the Writers Must Win</a>.

[CB]

"Oh no, if we don't win this fight, then our obsolete organization based around trying to control forces that would be better left controlling themselves might crumble away into the historical anecdote that it, by all rights, should have become fifty years ago!!"

[Thelemech]

"Oh no, if we don't win this fight, then our obsolete organization based around trying to control forces that would be better left controlling themselves might crumble away into the historical anecdote that it, by all rights, should have become fifty years ago!!"

Poignant observation, and unfortunately very true.:D

[Lincoln]

"Oh no, if we don't win this fight, then our obsolete organization based around trying to control forces that would be better left controlling themselves might crumble away into the historical anecdote that it, by all rights, should have become fifty years ago!!"
I must disagree. I think it's important for writers, actors, etc to see residual value from the continuing sales of the work they produced, just as an author gets royalties from continued sales of their books. Without the Guilds, that certainly would not happen.

In fact, I think it's dumb that the same does not hold true for designers. Whoever designs your company's logo gets a check for X amount. Never mind if that logo later makes your company famous and you enter the Fortune 500, the designer never sees a cent more. Meanwhile, the person whose teeth appear in your Colgate commercial gets a check every time it runs. I rather enjoy logo work, but I don't do it for things I don't own or run, because I don't think that sort of work is something you give away for a one-time payment.

[GHoosdum]

Sweet, I totally need to get royalty payments every time a piece of code that I wrote gets run by a coworker. Who's with me? Coders' Union!

[CB]

As a writer, and a logo designer myself, I agree that these activities should see residuals, but I don't think that any market should be forced by unions or guilds. If the market doesn't support what you want, then GTFO.

Unions should be used to stop companies from doing things that would kill or injure their employees, not to force monetary distribution that the market would otherwise not reveal on it's own.

It's possible that I am biased, as I've had some bad experiences with unions in the past, and I've seen the damage they can do when used incorrectly. I don't think that society should abide them any longer. Period.

[Lincoln]

Sweet, I totally need to get royalty payments every time a piece of code that I wrote gets run by a coworker. Who's with me? Coders' Union!
I don't think claiming royalties for producing the products/services your company sells (or building its infrastructure) follows from my argument...

[GHoosdum]

But that's just what the writers are doing. They're trying to claim royalties on the end result of their writings that their employers are selling in various venues.

I get paid a couple bucks an hour to write, no matter how many times my code gets run, no matter what conditions it's run under, and no matter who runs it. Why should I not get paid each time what I write is used? Or, conversely, why should they get paid each time the product of their writings are used?

[Thrax]

Ghoos, you just swayed my opinion with your analogy.

[CB]

Yay for analogies!

Edit: Hey wait! When I tried to argue something to Thrax using analogy, I just kept being told that my argument was invalid because it was an analogy, rather than the actual issue... :P

[Buddy J]

Next thing you know, writers will want money from the resale of used DVD boxed sets.

[CB]

Next thing you know, writers will want money from the resale of used DVD boxed sets.

So will the guy who originally put the DVD in the box!

[Thrax]

Yay for analogies!

Edit: Hey wait! When I tried to argue something to Thrax using analogy, I just kept being told that my argument was invalid because it was an analogy, rather than the actual issue... :P

No, I said that the analogy wasn't accurate, not that I dislike analogies. ;)

[CB]

Bah!

"If I need to buy a new bottle of Windex, I shouldn't have to pay for the bottle again! I already have the bottle!"

[GHoosdum]

CB, I hate to break it to you, but sometimes your analogies are more ponderous than analogous. ;) :p

[Thrax]

Bah!

"If I need to buy a new bottle of Windex, I shouldn't have to pay for the bottle again! I already have the bottle!"

This perfectly illustrates my point:

A single bottle of windex isn't indefinitely reusable like the game is.

[CB]

Double Bah!

The 'bottle' part is... You can fill it again.

[Lincoln]

But that's just what the writers are doing. They're trying to claim royalties on the end result of their writings that their employers are selling in various venues.

I get paid a couple bucks an hour to write, no matter how many times my code gets run, no matter what conditions it's run under, and no matter who runs it. Why should I not get paid each time what I write is used? Or, conversely, why should they get paid each time the product of their writings are used?
Ghoos, you just swayed my opinion with your analogy.

But this analogy is flawed as well.

I go to see a movie and buy my ticket for $10. Do I get to go to the theater again for free? No, I gotta buy another ticket. If I want to watch that episode of Seinfeld again, can I have the commercial-free version? No, it's going to have new commercials that were just bought.

Writers are paid residuals because the companies are making money for every re-selling of the product in another format or at another time. There is one copy reused in many places.

If I want to open Word today, do I need to pay Microsoft a fee? No, I already bought it. There's no residual value beyond the initial sale, therefore no reason to pay the creators for it. There are many copies sold to many people.

Single creative works with residual value should dole out royalties appropriately. Manufactured (e.g. coded) products that are one-time sales should not.