I don't watch much TV lately, but I get a feeling that this writers strike is less about a deadlock,

[BuyingThyme]

and more about showing Americans how important these people are to our way of life. That is, this might take a while because they're playing the consumers more than they're playing the employers.

Is that about right?

[onenote]

1. nope. its about money.

Plain and simple.

[BuyingThyme]

8. I don't think you understand the question.

With most strikes, the tipping point comes with economic compromise. But in this case, the tipping point seems to rely heavily on educating the public how much we count on screenwriters.

[kestrel91316]

2. For the writers, it's all about fundamental fairness. They know that

even DVD royalties will some day be moot, as will DVDs. It's all gonna be via the internet. That's why they are fighting for internet royalties. And the studios know this.

Like I said yesterday. SHAME ON Nick Counter and his clients for trying to permanently deprive writers of virtually all royalties and then LYING about the fact that the writers offered a compromise.

(I know Nick Counter)

[SteelPenguin]

3. It's money

Right now writers get residuals when their work is used again and again. Say a TV show they wrote and got paid for gets aired in syndication on the local network at 6 every day. They get a check for that every month, added up of course.

The problem is that they're not getting residuals for anything sold as an online download, or in the new mediums that everything is moving towards, so the writers are asking for a share of the residuals of those new mediums, and the producers are saying no.

So, strike. The writers don't want to be left out in the cold for other people to make reams of cash in new media while they're left with less than before.

[Lucinda]

4. They want a chunk of new profit streams (like the internet) where their work

is being sold and they aren't being compensated. Strike seems valid to me....

[spanone]

5. no, it's about writers (the creative force) getting their fair share of revenues.

[aquart]

6. So you're blaming the writers for the producers' greed.

Well, isn't that special.

[BuyingThyme]

11. You sure aren't smart. But you're pretty good at making stuff up.

[aquart]

13. Links, sweety. Show me what I "made up."

And be prepared to prove it.

[BuyingThyme]

14. You made up the part where I blamed anybody for anything.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

12. And those producers (most of them anyway) would be NOWHERE without the creativity of the writers

Same shit you see in every industry. Greedy, talentless, amoral fucks are lavishly rewarded for taking advantage of the creativity of others.

[AlCzervik]

7. the nerve of them wanting to get paid for their work!

[supernova]

9. It's about getting paid for new media

You don't just watch a show on TV when it airs anymore.

You record it and watch it on Tivo
You buy a DVD for the complete season
You watch it at the station web site
You watch snippets on YouTube
You d/l from bit torrent
You watch snippets or whole webisodes from your iPod or phone

Writers deserve to be paid for content that airs over these new media.

[Cleita]

10. From what I saw last night, most of the programs were reruns.

It's seems the production companies and/or networks are behind the writers. It's not like they didn't have programs in the can to be aired, but they chose not to in solidarity. For my part it's all right. I started to catch up on my reading.