Hollywood unions investigating iPod video sales
Posted by Dr. Macenstein
The Associated Press is reporting that the 5 major unions representing Hollywood’s writers, directors, and actors, are looking into the financial terms ABC has arranged with Apple for the sale of video content on the iTunes music store.
The Writers Guild of America, (West), the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists, the Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild of America, and the Writers Guild of America, (East), are all concerned over the fact that no one from ABC has contacted any of the unions over monetary compensation for their members for the sale television programming on Apple’s iTunes music/video store.
An ABC spokesperson issued this statement: “The guilds are our business partners, and we always welcome a dialogue with them on any business-related issue that affects their members.”
The current deal for video on demand and internet downloads of content gives 1.6% of the license fee that networks pay to the producers of a show to the show’s writers, and 3.6% to the show’s actors. The issue here is a potential fight over whether the videos sold in the iTunes store are treated under this arrangement, or whether the studios will attempt to group iTunes purchases under the same category as DVD sales, which apparently pay the union members less.
Seems odd ABC wouldn’t have contacted anyone from the Unions.
I guess now that the mafia is out of Hollywood, the unions are less threatening, eh?
Well this format is much closer to the DVD format (one to each user) than it is to a notwork broadcast… Inspired by the Music Majors, they are going to try to have a share in it…
At what point does ABC Legal not speak up in a meeting and say, “Maybe we should talk to the unions about royalties before this all blows up in our faces after launch.”