ABC POLICY ON IPODS IS UNFAIR, UNIONS SAY.Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer Hollywood's labor unions are blasting ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. because they say the television network did not bother to bargain with them over residuals from iPod downloads of such hit shows as ``Desperate Housewives'' and ``Lost.'' The Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is a term often referring to the joint efforts of the Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, west. Jointly, the two guilds act as the collective bargaining representative, or labor union, for writers in the motion picture and , Screen Actors Guild, and Directors Guild of America have all come out swinging this week in a battle brewing ever since the network announced its plans last October to make some of its shows available via Apple Inc.'s iPod. The conflict surrounds ABC's informing the unions Monday that they intend to pay residuals to artists based on the current videocassette A removable magnetic tape module for storing video data. The cassette contains supply and takeup reel (hubs) in the same housing. See VCR. formula that union leaders say no longer reflects rapidly changing technology. That formula allows a company to exclude 80 percent of wholesale revenues when calculating residuals. The residuals are paid from the remaining 20 percent. ``ABC's actions are flatly inconsistent with our collective bargaining agreements The contractual agreement between an employer and a Labor Union that governs wages, hours, and working conditions for employees and which can be enforced against both the employer and the union for failure to comply with its terms. and with labor law labor law, legislation dealing with human beings in their capacity as workers or wage earners. The Industrial Revolution, by introducing the machine and factory production, greatly expanded the class of workers dependent on wages as their source of income. obligations, and fail to fairly compensate performers for the use of their work and images,'' said SAG President Alan Rosenberg Alan Rosenberg (born October 4 1950) is an American actor of both stage and screen, and current president of the Screen Actors' Guild, the principal motion picture industry on-screen performers' union. Biography Rosenberg was born and raised in Passaic, New Jersey. . Rosenberg, elected last fall, has teamed with new WGA WGA Windows Genuine Advantage (Microsoft) WGA Writers Guild of America (union for screenwriters) WGA Wise Giving Alliance (Better Business Bureau) WGA wheat germ agglutinin West President Patric Verrone Patric Verrone (born Patric Miller Verrone on September 29, 1959 in Glendale, Queens, New York) is an American television writer. He served as a writer and producer for several animated television shows, most notably Futurama. to provide a far more united front against networks and studios on various issues. In particular, they have made clear that they are prepared to do battle in the negotiating room and the courtroom to get a fair share of residuals. ``ABC's unilateral decision to pay digital-download residuals at the home-video rate is a violation of our contract and an insult to our hard-working members,'' Verrone said. ``It is unacceptable, and we will aggressively pursue all legal options at our disposal.'' WGA East President Chris Albers called the current compensation to artists ``a paltry residual rate based on an irrelevant home-video formula from the age of Betamax.'' During contract negotiations last year under previous leadership, the guilds made no progress in improving upon their old deal for home video residuals despite the ascent of the DVD format, which typically contributes more to a studio's bottom line than box office revenue. The unions say they don't want history to repeat itself as the digital media era grows at a rapid pace and the residuals formula remains the same at it was in the 1980s. ABC, owned by The Walt Disney Co., said in a statement that it stands by its decision to go with the existing residual formula. ``We believe that the residual for sales and permanent downloads of programs to the iPod is covered by the home video residual formula,'' the network stated. ``If the guilds have a different point of view, they have the right to challenge the company's determination before a neutral arbitrator.'' Greg Hernandez, (818) 713-3758 greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.comend! |
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