nin137

I'm on strike

i'm in cahoots with the writers on strike. i don't want
those pesky corporations taking all of my money without just
compensation for the expenditure of blood sweat and tears
that i put into each and every one of these journal entries.
as you may or may not know the writers guild of america
(WGA) is on strike. this really didn't matter too much to
me until i saw the following terrifying youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6hqP0c0_gw
yes that's right. no more new episodes of the office!!!
my absolute favorite show, the only thing i can bring myself
to turn the tv on for.
argggggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!
now when money-grubbing pigs oink here and there about how
they're only making $50,000 instead of $75,000 i really
don't care, but when it affects me personally?
game on.
so let's go through this stupid shit bit by bit.
1) writers get paid a "residual" which apparently means
that they get paid every time a dvd is sold. this agreement
was made when vhs first came out and apparently all writers
were morons and actually believed the studio and took a .3%
cut. yeah you read that right. they now want 2.5% for dvd
sales and also for material online, which leads to the
gravamen of their complaint
2) apparently writers don't get paid when shows are aired
online. due to a variety of trickery (such as the network
calling an ENTIRE episode that you can watching through
streaming video online as PROMOTION...get the fuck serious)
and an inability to negotiate the writers have apparently
been screwed out of getting paid ANYTHING anytime a show is
aired online.
so that's basically WHAT they're striking about (although
the website calls it WHY...which for some reason makes it
sound more likely because WHAT lends itself to the
materiality of it all...i.e. money).
they want more money. now i've heard a variety of shit
about how poor or non-poor writers are. apparently job
security isn't great (which is why the WGA is so prominent)
because hey...if you're not good at writing a sitcom the
network ain't gonna throw you money. i've heard that
writers get paid an average between $50,000 - $75,000 not
millionaire salaries, but then again, noone's suckin' on the
welfare teet with that kind of cheddar coming your way.
so now here's my point on it. i am on the writers' side to
a certain extent...i mean if you CREATE something (i.e. the
writing for a show) then you should get paid. that's about
as axiomatic as it comes. and someone shouldnm't be able to
screw you out of your rightfully earned money just because
it's a new medium (internet, streaming video). the
fundamental fact is that you created it and the form it
takes shouldn't have an effect on whether you get paid or not.
but then again i'm wondering. how did these writers not
negotiate this further back? i mean they are handingly this
kind of immaturely.
see these are things were you have to have someone who has
some insight. did they not think that the internet would be
a huge boon to videos? are you serious? and how horribly
is that DVD residual contract?
the thing is, sure it's a bitch that they get .3% but hey,
they are the ones who entered into that. just cos they
fucked up back then doesn't mean that I should suffer now.
so i'm torn between my feelings about intellectual property
rights and annoyance at these people for acting like sore
bitches for having been duped in the past.
so how about this.
you guys get 1.4% of all residuals (including online video).
you're not getting 2.5% cos you were idiots in the past for
taking the lower rate in the past. we're giving you an
whole news stream of revenue you've been missing out on
(online shit) and we're giving you half of the increase you
want.
and shut the fuck up about inflation. what moron posted
that? it was some stupid ass blog where this guy was saying
that the 2.5% was just trying to keep up with inflation.
the shit that you're getting a residual of is what rises
with inflation!!! INFLATION IS FACTORED INTO THE PRICE OF
THE DVD!!!
christ.
you people need to write me some new office episodes.
and fast.