WGA jurisdiction over new media

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Okay, I've got a question for WGA members.
A cell phone company started offering in Canada (through MobiTV) live television on their wireless phones. Almost all of the stations they are offering are American, but that's a matter best left for the CRTC. This revived an old issue for me about Canadian writers and new media.

I was approached in the past by a few producers to write scripts for animation destined for cell phones, and earlier this year I wrote six scripts for a web ad campaign for a popular buttery spread (can't you believe it?). None of these fall under the jurisdiction of the Writers Guild of Canada.
And now, this new service by a Canadian wireless phone company opens up a new can of worms, because as far as I know WGC members get diddly squat if their work is shown on cell phones.
I've approached the WGC several times about this issue, but they're remaining pretty tight-lipped and seem reluctant to recognize these new media even exist as long as they're not getting a cut (raising the question: who are they working for anyway).
What I'd like to know is whether the WGA has pronounced itself on these new media (phones, web...), and what they're doing about it?
jaybee

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Okay, I've got a question for WGA members. A cell phone company started offering in Canada (through MobiTV) live television ... know is whether the WGA has pronounced itself onthese new media (phones, web...), and what they're doing about it? jaybee[/nq]Has it been mentioned? Sure. But meanwhile, as of right now, we get a smaller share of every DVD that's released than the guy that designs the cover art and the producers inform us that if they raise the percentage so much as a trillionth of a percent, the entire industry will go bankrupt. Attempts to negotiate any percentage of internet-based work have come to naught primarily because there's no money there now. The guild doesn't want to negotiate contracts for pennies so they figure that they'll wait - only by the time the industry is making real money presuming that it does, it will have developed its own writers to serve that market and we'll be left out in the cold.

Top that off by the fact that WGAwest is currently engaged in a major coupe attempt designed to destroy, disembowel and generally destroy and absorb WGAeast and you'll get a sense of how likely it is that we'll be making any concerted efforts to negotiate inroads in writing for new technology markets.
The whole Guild is a mess right now.
NMS

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Okay, I've got a question for WGA members. A cell phone company started offering in Canada (through MobiTV) live television ... know is whether the WGA has pronounced itself on these new media (phones, web...), and what they're doing about it?[/nq]
They have a new media plan but have no jurisdiction. The general idea is to get enough writers into it and then try to form something, but I doubt they'll have much luck. It's kind of the same battle they had for year with animation writers but "new media" covers a lot more ground. Try this link - http://www.wga.org/organizing/internet.html

Courage is the greatest of all the virtues. Because if you haven't courage, you may not have an opportunity to use any of the others.

Samuel Johnson

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]They have a new media plan but have no jurisdiction. The general idea is to get enough writers into it ... they had for year with animation writers but "new media" covers a lot more ground. Try this link - http://www.wga.org/organizing/internet.html[/nq]
Thanks for the link.
jaybee

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]They have a new media plan but have no jurisdiction. ... covers a lot more ground. Try this link - http://www.wga.org/organizing/internet.html[/nq]
[nq:1]Thanks for the link. jaybee[/nq]
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George Bernard Shaw

WGA jurisdiction over new media

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