Source: http://www.title24uscode.org/WGA.htm
Timestamp: 2017-09-20 00:27:47
Document Index: 591654062

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 302', 'Art. 8', 'Art. 8', 'Art. 12', '§102', 'Art 7', '§302', 'Art. 14', 'Art. 9', 'Art. 11', '§201', 'Art. 20', 'Art. 27', 'Art. 20', '§104', '§302', '§201', '§4001', 'Art. 14', 'Art. 9', '§4001', '§4001', 'Art. 2']

In television, some 85 - 90% of series fail before they can be syndicated
Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers v. Writers Guild of America HA-30-11-07
The Producer’s Comprehensive Proposal to the Writer’s Guild of America West and East of October 25, 2007 requires technical editing, DVD residuals must double, Internet and new media sales should offer high residuals of 2.4% to avoid future conflict and authors must be entitled to a small residual from advertising revenues to improve collaboration. Furthermore, the motion picture and television industry must unite with their writers and actors unions to transfer section 406 of the WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties Implementation Act of 1998 Pub. L. No. 105-304, 112 Stat. 2860 that was improperly codified as a seizure to a new Chapter 14 of Title 17 Copyright with or without more regulation of the industry. Since 2000, media conglomerate revenue from entertainment segments has increased 51% from $63 billion to $95 billion. Over the same period of time, writer earnings and residuals have increased only 20% from $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion. Between 2005 and 2006 writers actually saw a decline in their income, only the highest-paid 25%, saw a 1.7% rise in earnings for those at the 75th percentile to $253,377. Earnings trends for other groups softened somewhat with the figure for the 95th percentile sliding 2.3% to $665,000; the 50th percentile was off 2.6% to $104,750; and the 25th percentile fell 1.7% to $37,777. Producers are doing too well to deny their author’s their rights and the contract is so authoritarian they have only themselves to blame for the strike. Having reassured producers of tax breaks for any actual losses they might suffer everyone should go back to work united by the legislative purpose of equal protection of the law.
To direct the technical editing we must begin by repealing the equal rights in discrimination at all of section 6 Crediting Fees/Program Fees and section 7 Appendix A. Further sections will need to be renumbered accordingly however in this guiding paragraph they shall be referred to as is. Section 11 Residual Payments for Theatrical and Motion Pictures needs to be rewritten. At (B) the residual rate for DVDs shall double. At (C) the residual rate for Internet and New media shall be 2.4%. At (D) Confirm with WGA that, applicable to Universal only, under Article 15.A., no compensation is due for the exhibition on free television of any theatrical motion picture, the principal photography of which commenced prior to June 13, 1960. Repeal Section 22 Article 48 Writer’s Participation in Production Process. Repeal section 26 Product Made for New Media. Repeal section 27 Promotional Uses. Repeal section 28 Withdrawal/Rejection. Repeal concluding clause, “Any of the Guilds’ proposals not mentioned herein are rejected”. Transfer section 23 Grievances and Arbitration to the end of the Contract to give the semblance of an alternative dispute resolution mechanism guaranteeing individuals the safety to voice to redress their own grievances. Having performed these six repeals, three amendments and one transfer the Comprehensive Proposal would be a surefire hit with Guild and the strike would break.
1. Addison, John T.; Belfield, Clive R. Union Voice. Chapter 8: What Do Unions Do? In Bennet and Kaufman ed. Transaction Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006. pgs. 238-274
2. Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP)
3. AMPTP Sideletter on Literary Material Written for Programs Made for the Internet.
4. Art. I Section 8 Clause 8 of the US Constitution Intellectual Property Clause
5. Author’s Guild. Author’s Guild Sues Google, Citing Massive Copyright Infringement. September 20, 2005
6. Bennet, James T.; Kaufman, Bruce E. What Do Unions Do?: A Twenty Year Perspective. Transaction Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006
7. Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of September 9, 1886, completed at PARIS on May 4, 1896, revised at BERLIN on November 13, 1908, completed at BERNE on March 20, 1914, revised at ROME on June 2, 1928, at BRUSSELS on June 26, 1948, at STOCKHOLM on July 14, 1967, and at PARIS on July 24, 1971, and amended on September 28, 1979
8. Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 in Appendix I of Title 17 as maintained by the US Copyright Office
9. Blanchflower, David G.; Bryson, Alex. What Effet Do Unions Have on Wages Now and Would Freeman and Medoff Be Surprised? Chapter 4: In Bennet and 10. Kaufman ed. Transaction Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006. pgs. 79-113
11. Budd, John W. The Effect of Unions on Employee Benefits and Non-Wage Compensation: Monopoly Power, Collective Voice and Facilitation. Chapter 6:
12. What Do Unions Do? In Bennet and Kaufman ed. Transaction Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006. pgs. 160-192
13. Card, David; Lemieux, Thomas; Riddell, W. Craig. Unions and Wage Inequality. Chapter 5: What Do Unions Do? In Bennet and Kaufman ed. Transaction Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006. pgs. 114-159
14. Chao v. ULLICO Civil Action Number 1:07-cv-02089
15. Cognis Corporation v. United Steel Workers of America 2007-Ohio-1489. March 30, 2007
16. Commons, John R. Labor and Administration . New York. MacMillan. 1913
17. Counter, Nick. Can the Strike be Settled? Cut the Theatrics Say the Producers. Los Angeles Times. November 17, 2007
18. Duration of copyrighted Works created on or after January 1, 1978 17USC(3)§ 302
19. Eldred v. Ashcroft. As noted in the Brief of Amici Curie from the Association of American Publishers et al. No. 01-618. June 8, 2002
20. Flanagan, Robert J. Has Management Strangled US Unions. Chapter 15: What Do Unions Do? In Bennet and Kaufman ed. Transaction Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006. pgs. 459-492
21. Freeman, Richard; Medoff, James. What Do Unions Do? New York. Basic Books. 1984
22. Freeman, Richard B. The 2004 M-Brane Stringtwister Edition. Chapter 20: What Do Unions Do? In Bennet and Kaufman ed. Transaction Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006. pgs. 607-636
23. Friedman, Milton. Some Comments on the Significance for Labor Unions on Economic Policy. In David McCord Wright, ed. The impact of the Union. New York. Kelley and Millman. 1956
24. Gernigon, B; Odero, A; Guido, H. ILO principles concerning collective bargaining. 139 Intern’l Lab. Rev. 33. 2000
25. Google Inc. v. Hospitals & Asylums HA-24-10-06
26. Gunderson, Morley. Two Faces of Union Voice in the Public Sector. Chapter 13: What Do Unions Do? In Bennet and Kaufman ed. Transaction Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006. pgs. 401-422
27. Hammar, Tove Helland; Avgar, Ariel. The Impact of Unions on Job Satisfaction, Organizational Commitment and Turnover. Chapter 11: What Do Unions Do? In Bennet and Kaufman ed. Transaction Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006. pgs. 346-372
28. Health Services and Support – Facilities Subsector Bargaining Assn. v. British Columbia, 2007 SCC 27 June 8
29. Hirsch, Barry T. What Do Unions Do for Economic Performance? Chapter 7: What Do Unions Do? In Bennet and Kaufman ed. Transaction
Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006. pgs. 193-237
30. In re: $0.50 United Food and Commercial Workers UFCW 1099 v. Kroger Company HA-1-11-07
31. International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 16 December 1966
32. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) December 16, 1966
33. Kaufman, Bruce E. What Do Unions Do? Evaluation and Commentary. Chapter 17: What Do Unions Do? In Bennet and Kaufman ed. Transaction
Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006. pgs. 520-562
34. Krugman, Paul. The Conscience of a Liberal. W.W. Norton & Company. New York. 2007
35. Lawless, Jill. European Writers Support US Strike. November 28, 2007
36. Masters, Marick F.; Delaney, John T. Organized Labor’s Political Scorecard. Chapter 16: What Do Unions Do? In Bennet and Kaufman ed. Transaction
Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006. pgs. 492-519
37. Mitchell, Daniel J.B.; Erickson, Christopher L. De-Unionization and Macro Performance: What Freeman and Medoff Didn’t Do. Chapter 12: What Do Unions Do? In Bennet and Kaufman ed. Transaction Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006 pgs. 373-400
38. McNary, Dave. Pay for writers drops in '06: Slip due to 3.2% decrease in compensation. Variety, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier, Inc. July 9, 2007
39. National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine. To Err is Human. 2000
40. Pencavel, John Unionism Viewed Internationally. Chapter 14: What Do Unions Do? In Bennet and Kaufman ed. Transaction
Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006. pgs. 423-458
41. Rosenthal, Phil. Democrats Walk a Fine Line in Writer’s Strike. Chicago Tribune. November 25, 2007
42. Producer’s Comprehensive Proposal to the Writer’s Guild of America West and East October 25, 2007
43. Sanders, Tony J. Hospitals & Asylums Book Proposal HA-24-8-07
44. Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112 Stat. 2827. 1998
45. Sleigh, Stephen R. A Unionist’s Perspective. Chapter 19: What Do Unions Do? In Bennet and Kaufman ed. Transaction
Publishers. New Brunswick. 2006. pgs. 589-606
46. Slichter, Sumner H. Union Policies and Industrial Management. Washington DC. Brookings Institution. 1941
47. State Employment Relations Board v. Queen City Lodge No. 69, Fraternal Order of Police Ohio 1st App. 2007-Ohio-5471. October 26, 2007
48. State ex rel Anthony J. Celebrezze v. Gibbs (1991), 60 Ohio St.3d 69, 75, 573 N.E.2d 62
49. U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards announces 16 indictments, 5 convictions for union embezzlement in October 11/08/2007
50. Universal Declaration of Human Rights. December 10, 1948
51. Verrier, Richard; Change, Andres. Writers strike could cost $21.3 million a day. Los Angeles Times, November 21, 2007
52. Wagner Act
53. Wikipedia. Writer’s Guild of America Strike 2007
54. WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties Implementation Act of 1998 Pub. L. No. 105-304, 112 Stat. 2860
55. WGA Contract 2007 Briefing
56. Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE)
57. Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW)
58. WGA 14 Picket Locations
59. WGA Struck Companies List
1. The Writers Guild of America Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) expired on October 31, 2007. The provisions of the MBA cover approximately 12,000 current members of the WGAW and the WGAE. The 2007 Writers Guild of America strike is a strike by both the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, west (WGAW) that started on November 5, 2007. The WGAE and WGAW are two labor unions that represent film, television and radio writers working in the United States. The strike is against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a trade organization that represents the interests of American film and television producers. More than a thousand companies are struck. The primary issues involve the rates at which the intellectual property rights of authors are purchased, including a doubling of residual income from DVD sales, capitalization upon Internet sales, author’s rights to advertising revenues, as well as $250,000 income cap for health and pension benefits contributions outlined in the Comprehensive Package of October 25, 2007.
2. Motion picture and television producers have denied the union contract because AMPTP claims the writers are already well paid and that very few productions turn a profit, at all, and most features operate on multi-million dollar deficits. In television, some 85 - 90% of series fail before they can be syndicated. The average deficit, production costs less license fee, for the first season of a one-hour series is $26.4 - $33 million and is $8.8 - $15.4 million for a half-hour series. The WGA’s 4,434 working members make an average of $200,000 per year. Writers are also demanding a percentage of the advertising revenue earned by the networks from ad-supported streaming the WGA’s contract is not with networks, it is with producers, who receive no proceeds from these advertisements, just as they receive none of the revenue achieved by networks through commercial television. It’s the producers who shoulder all the risk in a business in which most motion pictures lose money, and the vast majority of television shows either never get past the pilot episode or never achieve profitability. Regardless of whether a show or a movie is a hit or a flop, the writer is paid.
3. Galvanized by the refusal to approve their contract, members of the Writers Guild of America, West and Writers Guild of America, East refused to go to work and staged the largest action in the Guild's 74-year history. On Monday, November 5 at 12:01 am, more than 3,000 WGAW members walked picket lines throughout the day at 14 locations and demanded that the Companies bargain fairly with writers. By Tuesday, the number had swelled to 3,200. Most TV shows are filmed in L.A. If the strike continues into next month, virtually all of the 44 one-hour dramas and 21 situation comedies that are shot in Los Angeles will stop production entirely as the shows run out of fresh scripts to keep crews filming, industry officials say. That translates into a loss of 15,000 jobs and $21.3 million a day in direct spending (Verrier & Change 2007). Two opinion polls have been conducted to gauge the public's response to the strike. One national survey conducted by Pepperdine University found that 84%, or more than four out of five Americans, were aware that the strike was in progress. Nearly two-thirds of the American public tends to side with the writers, one third are unsure, and only four percent sympathize with the AMPTP. A second regional poll conducted by Survey USA of Los Angeles residents showed that eight percent supported the studios with sixty-nine percent supporting the writers (Wikipedia 2007). On late November 16, 2007, both the WGA and the AMPTP made the following announcement: "Leaders from the WGA and the AMPTP have mutually agreed to resume formal negotiations on November 26". So far no progress has been made. Strikers are willing to settle but are also willing to continue their strike if their demands are not met.
4. Numerous politicians, such a presidential candidate John Edwards and Rev. Jesse Jackson and actors have joined the picketers. Democratic presidential hopeful John Edwards and his wife, Elizabeth, are canceling a scheduled appearance on “The View” in support of the Writers Guild of America strike. So is Michelle Obama, wife of Barack, Edwards’ rival for the Democratic nomination. If CBS News writers, who last week approved a strike after going without a contract for 2 1/2 years, actually walk, several candidates, including front-runners Edwards, Obama and Hillary Clinton, have said they will sit out that network’s Democratic debate, set for Dec. 10, rather than cross a picket line (Rosenthal 2007). Several dozen writers rallied in front of the headquarters of Britain's main union federation holding red-and-black placards saying: "We Support the Writers Guild of America." In Paris, a few dozen screenwriters and others joined a march from the Opera Garnier to the Trocadero Plaza across from the Eiffel Tower in support of their American counterparts. They held up signs saying "French Screenwriters Are Angry" and "Our Creative Work is Under Threat." In Berlin, about 30 scriptwriters and actors gathered in front of the Brandenburg Gate. Australian scriptwriters also supported their U.S. counterparts, with Australian Writers Guild members rallying in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. Speakers at the 50-strong Sydney rally included Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jan Sardi, "Shine" and "The Notebook", and Craig Pearce, "Strictly Ballroom," "Moulin Rouge", (Lawless 2007).
5. The underlying reason for the strike is that Hollywood scribes saw Guild-covered earnings slide 1.5% last year to $905.8 million in the first decline in five years, due to a 3.2% decrease in compensation for feature writing. The WGA West’s annual report to its 8,000 members, noted that 2006 earnings figure is still higher than any other year except 2005. Be-ginning in 2002, earnings had risen by 3.8%, 4.1%, 2.2% and 5.8%. In an indication that studios are holding the line on screenwriters, feature pay declined to $437.9 million after rising 3.9% last year. The number of writers employed on features rose by 37 to 1,935 -- a 1.7% gain. Feature writers also saw a 6% slide in residuals last year to $121.3 million -- mostly from a 13% fall in video/DVD residuals to $43.5 million. Pay TV residuals declined 6% to $38.9 million. The WGA Contract 2007 Briefing argues that since 2000, Media Conglomerate Revenue from Entertainment Segments has increased 51% from $63 billion to $95 billion. Over the same period of time, Writer Earnings and Residuals have increased only 20% from $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion.
Entertainment Segment Revenue and
Writer Earnings and Residuals 2000-2006
(Source: WGA Analysis of SEC filings and Company Annual Reports)
6. TV writing saw slightly brighter results as earnings held fairly steady at $464.6 million -- a 0.1% hike amounting to $400,000 higher than 2005. It was the fifth all-time high in a row but the gain was miniscule compared with the previous hikes of 1.5%, 2.9%, 3.8% and 7.6%. The number of TV writers employed edged up for the third year in a row with a 0.8% gain to 3,353 -- 25 higher than in 2005. TV residuals shot up 9% to $130.7 million, thanks to an 11% gain in foreign free TV to $21 million due to a greater volume of programs released into international distribution; 17% in basic cable to $33.1 million and 30% in home-videos to $13.1 million. Residuals from free TV reuse edged up 2% to $63.2 million due to gains in network overnight and daytime reuse. The biggest gains for a group of writers came for the highest-paid 25%, who saw a 1.7% rise in earnings for those at the 75th percentile to $253,377. Earnings trends for other groups softened somewhat with the figure for the 95th percentile sliding 2.3% to $665,000; the 50th percentile was off 2.6% to $104,750; and the 25th percentile fell 1.7% to $37,777.
7. Anticipating a strike WGA West’s net assets rose $1.7 million to $32.3 million and has combined total of $12.2 million in its Strike and Good & Welfare funds. The Guild’s been required under its constitution since 1992 to keep $6 million in its strike fund. The WGA West said it generated a net surplus of $1.7 million for the fiscal year ended March 31, compared with a deficit of $202,611 in fiscal 2006. Revenues edged down to $22.3 million, down $100,000; investment income rose to $2.9 million from $1.9 million; and expenditures declined by $900,000 due to lower costs in the WGA Awards show and reduced spending on professional fees. Striking workers are not paid, nor are their health and pension payments paid. Article IX, Section B.6 of the Guild's Constitution provides for a Strike Fund to be made available to members facing hardship in the event of a work stoppage and the Strike Fund Committee to administer the Strike Fund. Members who meet the following criteria will be eligible to apply for Strike Fund assistance in the form of interest-free loans.
8. From 1900 to mid-century union density slowly and irregularly moved on an upward trend starting at 7 percent in 1900 and reaching a peak of 33 percent in 1953. Under the New Deal unions surged in both membership and power. Union membership tripled from 1933 to 1938 then doubled again by 1947. At the end of WWII more than a third of non-farm workers were members of unions (Krugman 2007: 49). Since then density has retraced much of its path, moving steadily downward. Falling rapidly from 24 percent in 1977 to 13 percent in 2002 until in 2005 it stood at 12 percent. Private sector density peaked in the United States in the early 1950s at 36 percent and then fell steadily and sharply until in 2005 it stood at only 8 percent in 1983. Density remains higher in manufacturing than in services. The opposite trend occurred in the public sector where union density rose more than threefold between 1960 and 1980 and then remained in the 35 to 40 percent range from the mid 1980s to the present time. By 2002 46 percent of all union members were in the public sector compared with 32.5 percent in 1983 (Blanchflower & Bryson 2006: 82).
9. US unions are associated with slower employment growth but exhibit little or no difference in rates of business failure or survival. By 2002 traditional collective bargaining serves few workers in the US private sector only one in twelve (8.6 percent) are union members and one in eleven (9.3 percent) are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. In the United States, the average “raw” union-nonunion wage gap without control for skill or other attribute is about 20 percent whereas the union nonunion wage gap falls to 15 percent when skill characteristics are held constant. (Pencavel 2006: 453). The de-industrialization of the United States was in fact a de-unionization (Hirsch 2006: 217-218). Unionism on net probably raises social efficiency and recent trends have brought the level of union density below the optimal level wherefore they advocate revision in the nation’s labor laws in order to foster greater unionization in the American economy (Freeman & Medoff 1984: 1).
10. The two countries with the largest declines in unionization, the United States and United Kingdom, also experienced the biggest increases in wage inequality (Card, Lemiex, Riddell 2006: 114). The average income, the total income of the nation, divided by the number of people, has gone up substantially since 1973, the last year of the great boom. We are after all a more productive people. Average income however doesn’t tell you how most people are doing. Median income, the income of a person richer than half the population but poorer than the other half, depending on which definition used has either risen modestly or actually declined (Krugman 2007:125). Postwar US economic history can be divided into three eras, the postwar boom, from 1947 to 1973, the time of troubles, when oil crises and stagflation wracked the US economy, from 1973 to 1980 and the modern era of reasonable growth with rising inequality from 1980 until the present. During the postwar boom the real income of the typical family roughly doubled, from about $22,000 in today’s prices to $44,000. That’s a growth rate of 2.7 percent per year. The time of troubles temporarily brought growth in median income to a halt until inflation was brought under control. Since 1980 median family income has risen only about 0.7 percent a year. Even during the best of times the Reagan era “morning in America” expansion from 1982 to 1989 and Clinton era boom from 1993 to 2000 family income grew more slowly than it did for a full generation after WWII. (Krugman 2007: 54-55). According to a Federal Reserve study in the 1970s chief executives at 102 major companies were paid on average about $1.2 million in today’s dollars. Not hardship pay it was only a bit more than CEOs were paid in the 1930s and only 40 times what the average full time worker in the US was paid. By the early years of the 21st century CEO pay averaged more than $9 million a year, 367 times the pay of the average worker (Krugman 2007: 142).
11. In the original What Do Unions Do? by Freeman and Medoff in 1984 economists and the public were found to hold two different conceptions of unions the negative view they call the “monopoly face” of unions, the positive they call the “collective voice/institutional response” face. Unions use monopoly power to raise wages above competitive levels. Workers have two ways of dealing with workplace problems, the exit option of quitting and the “voice” option of speaking up to management. In the second What Do Unions Do? by Bennett and Kaufman in 2006 a third concept called monopsony is introduced to cope with diminished union density and increasing wage inequality between workers and managers. The union monopoly vs. employer monopsony idea suggest that a counteracting union monopoly effect could raise wages without necessarily decreasing employment. Monopsony power provides that a firm acting in a free market which sets a relatively high wage will experience low turnover and a high absolute inflow of quality workers from the outside labor market while a firm that sets low wages will experience low inflow of quality workers and high turnover rates. A nonunion firm will usually have monopsony power. Monopsony might prevail in nonunion labor markets, particularly in the context of declining union threat witnessed in the past 30 years, however a powerful union entering the scene can raise wages to a higher level. Monospsony suggests a downward pressure on wages and a shift of income distribution from labor to capital (Mitchell & Erickson 2006: 385-388 & 391).
12. In their classic article on the “Two Faces of Unionism” and their subsequent book, What Do Union Do? Freeman and Medoff (1979 and 1984 respectively) emphasized the positive voice face of unions in contrast to the conventional monopoly face that emphasized rent extraction. Under its monopoly face, unions can have negative effects on resource allocation, productivity and social welfare by fostering strikes and restrictive work practices as well as by raising wages above the competitive norm. In contrast, by serving as the institutional embodiment of voice at the workplace, unions could have positive effects on productivity, cost and social welfare. This could occur through various voice mechanisms: articulating the preferences and internal trade offs of workers; improving communications between workers and management; fostering due process and restricting the capricious actions of managers; reducing quits and “shocking management into more efficient work practices. Even in the case of strikes, positive cathartic effects may ensue and pent-up frustrations may be released (Gunderson 2006: 401).
13. The purpose of unions is to further the economic interests of its members by negotiating on their behalf over terms and conditions of employment. People join unions both to rectify dissatisfying circumstances and to increase the gains from employment. A pro-union vote is determined primarily by job dissatisfaction and a belief that the union will be able to improve one’s work life by ensuring higher wages and benefits, job security and protection against arbitrary and unjust treatment. Union jobs entail social benefits in the form of a system of due process and participation in decisions about employment and working conditions. Attitude surveys of American workers have shown repeatedly that union workers report less overall job satisfaction than nonunion workers, despite lower job satisfaction however union workers are less likely to quit (Hammer & Avgar 2006: 347).
14. The right to bargain collectively with an employer enhances the human dignity, liberty and autonomy of workers by giving them the opportunity to influence the establishment of workplace rules and thereby gain some control over a major aspect of their lives, namely their work. Collective bargaining has two principle aspects. First, it is a method of introducing civil rights into industry, that is requiring that management be conducted by rule rather than by arbitrary decision. Second, it is a method of price fixing of labor. Collective bargaining is a form of countervailing power that balanced the wage determination process, levels the playing field, and thereby promotes improved economic efficiency and social welfare. In this role union wage increase are not monopoly creating but monopsony reducing where monopsony is defined very broadly to include any factor that limits competition for labor. (Kaufman 2006: 525)
15. Collective bargaining is not simply an instrument for pursuing external ends, whether these be mundane monetary gains or the erection of a private rule of law to protect dignity of the worker in the face of managerial authority. Rather, collective bargaining is intrinsically valuable as an experience in self-government. It is the mode in which employees participate in setting the terms and conditions of employment, rather than simply accepting what their employer chooses to give them. Collective bargaining is the procedure through which the views of the workers are made known, expressed through representatives chosen by them, not through representatives selected or nominated or approved by employers. More than that, it is a procedure through which terms and conditions of employment may be settled by negotiations between an employer and his employees on the basis of a comparative equality of bargaining strength Health Services and Support – Facilities Subsector Bargaining Assn. v. British Columbia, 2007 SCC 27 June 8.
16. Convention No. 87 Concerning Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, 68 U.N.T.S. 17 has been understood to protect collective bargaining as part of freedom of association. Part I of the Convention, entitled “Freedom of Association”, sets out the rights of workers to freely form organizations which operate under constitutions and rules set by the workers and which have the ability to affiliate internationally. The principle that the ability “to form and organize unions, even in the public sector, must include freedom to pursue the essential activities of unions, such as collective bargaining and strikes, subject to reasonable limits.” Convention No. 87 has been the subject of numerous interpretations by the ILO’s Committee on Freedom of Association, Committee of Experts and Commissions of Inquiry. These interpretations have been described as the “cornerstone of the international law on trade union freedom and collective bargaining”: A recent review by ILO staff summarized a number of principles concerning collective bargaining. Some of the most relevant principles in international law are summarized in the following terms (Gernigon, Odero & Guido, 2000: 51-52)
A. The right to collective bargaining is a fundamental right endorsed by the members of the ILO in joining the Organization, which they have an obligation to respect, to promote and to realize, in good faith (ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up.
D. The purpose of collective bargaining is the regulation of terms and conditions of employment, in a broad sense, and the relations between the parties.
H. The principle of good faith in collective bargaining implies recognizing representative organizations, endeavouring to reach an agreement, engaging in genuine and constructive negotiations, avoiding unjustified delays in negotiation and mutually respecting the commitments entered into, taking into account the results of negotiations in good faith
I. In view of the fact that the voluntary nature of collective bargaining is a fundamental aspect of the principles of freedom of association, collective bargaining may not be imposed upon the parties and procedures to support bargaining must, in principle, take into account its voluntary nature; moreover, the level of bargaining must not be imposed unilaterally by law or by the authorities, and it must be possible for bargaining to take place at any level.
J. It is acceptable for conciliation and mediation to be imposed by law in the framework of the process of collective bargaining, provided that reasonable time limits are established. However, the imposition of compulsory arbitration in cases where the parties do not reach agreement is generally contrary to the principle of voluntary collective bargaining and is only admissible: [cases of essential services, administration of the State, clear deadlock, and national crisis]
K. Interventions by the legislative or administrative authorities which have the effect of annulling or modifying the content of freely concluded collective agreements, including wage clauses, are contrary to the principle of voluntary collective bargaining. These interventions include: the suspension or derogation of collective agreements by decree without the agreement of the parties; the interruption of agreements which have already been negotiated; the requirement that freely concluded collective agreements be renegotiated; the annulment of collective agreements; and the forced renegotiation of agreements which are currently in force. Other types of intervention, such as the compulsory extension of the validity of collective agreements by law are only admissible in cases of emergency and for short periods.
L. Restrictions on the content of future collective agreements ... are admissible only in so far as such restrictions are preceded by consultations with the organizations of workers and employers and fulfill the following conditions: [restrictions are exceptional measures; of limited duration; include protection for workers’ standards of living.
17. Before the twentieth century, in the United States, courts relied heavily on the doctrine of conspiracy under criminal and civil law as well as antitrust law to limit union activities. In 1914, the American Congress immunized unions from the application of antitrust law and adopted a non-interventionist attitude in order to let workers and employers use their respective economic powers to manage their own labor relations. However, the Depression and resulting industrial tension of the 1930s rendered the old laissez-faire model inappropriate. The result was the Wagner Act, which explicitly recognized the right of employees to belong to a trade union of their choice, free of employer coercion or interference, and imposed a duty upon employers to bargain in good faith with their employees’ unions. K. E. Klare has identified the following main objects of the Wagner Act.
1. Industrial Peace: By encouraging collective bargaining, the Act aimed to subdue “strikes and other forms of industrial strife or unrest,” because industrial warfare interfered with interstate commerce; that is, it was unhealthy in a business economy. Moreover, although this thought was not embodied in the text, industrial warfare clearly promoted other undesirable conditions, such as political turmoil, violence, and general uncertainty.
2. Collective Bargaining: The Act sought to enhance collective bargaining for its own sake because of its presumed “mediating” or “therapeutic” impact on industrial conflict.
3. Bargaining Power: The Act aimed to promote “actual liberty of contract” by redressing the unequal balance of bargaining power between employers and employees.
4. Free Choice: The Act was intended to protect the free choice of workers to associate amongst themselves and to select representatives of their own choosing for collective bargaining.
5. Underconsumption: The Act was designed to promote economic recovery and to prevent future depressions by increasing the earnings and purchasing power of workers.
6. Industrial Democracy: This is the most elusive aspect of the legislative purpose, although most commentators indicate that a concept of industrial democracy is embedded in the statutory scheme, or at the least was one of the articulated goals of the sponsors of the Act. Senator Wagner frequently sounded the industrial democracy theme in ringing notes, and scholars have subsequently seen in collective bargaining “the means of establishing industrial democracy, . . . the means of providing for the workers’ lives in industry the sense of worth, of freedom, and of participation that democratic government promises them as citizens”.
18. Everyone knows that unions raise wages the questions are how much, under what conditions and with what effects on the overall performance of the economy (Freeman & Medoff 1984: 43)? Studies show that the union wage effect is on average 10-15% and in the 1970s it was 20-30% (Blanchflower & Bryson 2006: 80). Workplaces with at least 50 percent union members have total expenditures on non-mandatory benefits items 25 to 35 percent higher than similar nonunion workplaces (Budd 2006: 165). Using standard theory, a wage gain can decrease capital if scale effects exceed substitution effects, but the capital-labor ratio unambiguously rises. If unions tax capital to facilitate wage gains there is no presumption that factor mix is either more or less capital intensive in union firms (Hirsch 2006: 229) Taking into consideration the lessening union density if unions raise wage rates in a particular occupation or industry, they necessarily make the amount of employment available in the occupation or industry less than it otherwise would be. Just as any higher price cuts down the amount purchased the effect of union wage gain is to limit the amount of labor the firm can afford (Friedman 1962: 124). In general unions tend to increase productivity but almost always lower profitability. Unions are beneficial to organized workers and are almost always beneficial to the economy but harmful to the bottom line of company balance sheets (Hirsch 2006: 194).
19. Other things being equal the typical unionized firm has 6 percent lower capital investment than its observationally equivalent nonunion counterpart. The average unionized firm has 15 percent lower research and development. In sum the vote for union certification is likened to a 30 percentage point increase in the corporate income tax (Hirsch 2006: 216). Union bargaining guarantees that the firm listens to workers concerns and that the firm does not take the lion’s share of the gains. (Freeman 2006: 609). Wages and other terms and conditions of employment in unionized firms are determined through a sequential step bargaining process with the threat and occasional use of a strike. Without strike costs and other costs of disagreement the firm and union have no motivation to compromise and reach an agreement. When the costs of disagreement are introduced both sides have to calculate the benefits and costs of intransigence. A strike occurs and lasts until an agreement is reached or one or both the parties exits the relationship.
20. Strikes are the clearest form of union voice at the workplace, at its loudest and most muscle flexing form. In a strike the union flexes their monopoly power as the exclusive bargaining agent, immune from anti-trust regulation, imposing costs on upstream suppliers and downstream customers as well as the struck employers. Strikes can jeopardize the competitiveness of a country and deter inward foreign investment as well as leaving a legacy of scarred relationships between the parties after they return to work. The right to strike in the publics sector is highly restricted. Such strikes are regards as particularly invidious because services are often regarded as “essential” and consumers usually have few alternatives and consumers generally keep on paying through taxes although services are not provided during the strike. Overall strikes are declining in both private and public sectors (Gunderson 2006: 407-409).
21. Art. 8 of the International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) of 16 December 1966 provides for the right of everyone to form and join trade unions of their choice, for the promotion and protection of their economic and social interests through collective bargaining. Art. 8(1)(d) provides for the right to strike. Unions must be careful to exercise the right to strike in conformity with the laws of country for they will be supervised by the armed forces. For their part, employers must not disregard the terms of their collective bargaining agreements whenever they find it convenient to do so. Employers should honor their contractual obligations to their employees just as employees must honor their contractual obligations to their employers pursuant to State Employment Relations Board v. Queen City Lodge No. 69, Fraternal Order of Police Ohio 1st App. 2007-Ohio-5471 of October 26, 2007. An equitable solution can be achieved as the $0.80 raise in the 11th hour settlement of In re: $0.50 United Food and Commercial Workers UFCW 1099 v. Kroger Company HA-1-11-07.
22. In State v. Local Union 5760, United Steel Workers of America, the Ohio Supreme Court held that a labor union may be liable for contempt of court based upon the contemptuous acts of its union officials. In such case, the acts of such officials are deemed to be acts of the union. For instance the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Labor-Management Standards announced on November 8, 2007 16 indictments, 5 convictions for union embezzlement in October. Since fiscal year 2001, OLMS investigations have yielded a total of 856 indictments with 806 convictions and court-ordered restitution of more than $102 million.” In Cognis Corporation v. United Steel Workers of America 2007-Ohio-1489 of March 30, 2007 the Union was found in criminal contempt for violating the terms of their agreement regarding picketing, that caused serious damages including an explosion. Decisions in contempt will not be reversed on appeal absent an abuse of discretion State ex rel Celebrezze v. Gibbs (1991), 60 Ohio St.3d 69, 75, 573 N.E.2d 62.
23. Management opposition policies to union organizing typically manifests in the form of preemptive authorization of union wages and working conditions. Under US labor this is only illegal after an organizing campaign beings. The federal judiciary has increasingly permitted employers to bring tort actions under state law against alleged defamatory claims made during union organizing campaigns and alleged violence during economic strikes. Since the 1970s employers have increasing refused to accept the finality of the Nation Labor Review Board’s representation decisions and labor relations policy has drifted back to the courts. Sustained management opposition to unions and collective bargaining has been largely an America phenomenon that has increased in the past 20 years (Flanagan 2006: 472 & 488). Some managements will adjust to the union and turn unionism into a positive force at the workplace, others will not. Over the long run, those that respond positively will prosper while those that do not will suffer in the market place.
24. By providing the worker with a voice mechanism the union lowers quits. The key variable signifying whether or not the individual will engage in voice or exit behavior is loyalty. Collective voice through the agency of a union outperforms individual activity. Unions collect information about the preferences of all workers and aggregate them to determine the social demand for such public goods. Section 8(a)(2) of the Wagner Act prohibits employers from dominating or interfering with the formation or administration or any labor organization or contributing financial or other support to it, ruling out company unions (Addison & Belfield 2006: 240-241). Sumner Slichter (1941: 575, 579) argued, “The very fact that the workers have had an opportunity to participate in determining their working conditions is in itself favorable to efficiency. Efficiency depends upon consent. Even though the specific rules and policies adopted in particular instances may not be ideal, the process of joint determination of working conditions at least offers the possibility of achieving greater efficiency than could be obtained under rules and conditions dictated by one side (Pencavel 2006: 449-450).
25. Let us then begin debating the issues with that of the $225,000 - $250,000 or $450,000-$500,000 for a group of three, annual income cap on pension and health benefits payments. This should not be controversial whereas the Labor Department just filed a lawsuit that alleges that Union Labor Life violated ERISA when it failed to properly disclose its compensation and receive approval from plan fiduciaries independent of Union Labor Life for funds taken directly from the investment account, as well as payments received from third-party borrowers, such as loan commitment fees, construction administration fees and lender inspection fees. The insurer allegedly kept, among other fees, millions of dollars from loan applicants who failed to go forward with loans even though the plans assumed virtually all the risk of funding those loans Chao v. ULLICO Civil Action Number 1:07-cv-02089. “Self-dealing by pension fiduciaries at the expense of workers’ retirement plans cannot be tolerated,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “This $20 million settlement is a loud and clear message to all plan fiduciaries that they will be held accountable when their actions are detrimental to workers’ benefit plans.” The $250,000 cap should help to reduce and eliminate abuse of funds by the union and health and pension programs over which no allegations have surfaced. At (F) the Health Trustees are specifically prohibited from diverting funds from salary increases.
26. It was unions negotiating the government and big business that brought about the introduction of health care insurance and pension benefits in the 1940s and 1950s and it was unions that set the standard for such benefits throughout the next 40 years. Health insurance, along with life and accident insurance account for 4 percent of total compensation. Virtually every union worker, 99 percent, was covered for health insurance, versus 70 percent of nonunion workers. The current share of health care expenditure is 9.1 percent of total labor cost goes to health insurance. The rapid escalation of health care cost to $5,267 per person in 2002 with annual increases in the first five years of this decade averaging 14 percent is nearly double the cost from 1999. While the United States spends more on health care as percent of gross domestic product, nearly 15 percent in 2004 the US ranks thirty-seventh in the world in health outcomes according to the WHO.
27. The shortcomings were documented in a seminal study published in 2000 by the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine, to Err is Human raised national awareness as to the shortcomings of our health delivery system. As many as 98,000 Americans die per year due to preventable medical errors. More people die in a given as a result of medical errors than from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer or AIDS and Medication errors alone cause as many deaths as all workplace related accidents (Sleigh 2006: 595). Newer studies report the numbers to be much higher and no one has yet taken more than an unpublished criminal responsibility for the leading cause of death – bio-terrorism.
28. Art. 12 of the ICESCR provides for the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. The steps to be taken by the States Parties to the present Covenant to achieve the full realization of this right shall include those necessary for: (a) The provision for the reduction of the stillbirth-rate and of infant mortality and for the healthy development of the child; (b) The improvement of all aspects of environmental and industrial hygiene; (c) The prevention, treatment and control of epidemic, endemic, occupational and other diseases; (d) The creation of conditions which would assure to all medical service and medical attention in the event of sickness.
29. The rest of the issues involve the intellectual property rights of authors are best settled under the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of September 9, 1886, completed at PARIS on May 4, 1896, revised at BERLIN on November 13, 1908, completed at BERNE on March 20, 1914, revised at ROME on June 2, 1928, at BRUSSELS on June 26, 1948, at STOCKHOLM on July 14, 1967, and at PARIS on July 24, 1971, and amended on September 28, 1979. The Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988 in Appendix I of Title 17 as maintained by the US Copyright Office provides in Section 2 and 3 that the Convention is not self-executing under the Constitution and laws of the United States and the obligations of the United States under the Berne Convention may be performed only pursuant to appropriate domestic law.
30. The issues for which we are searching for resolution from national legislation under the guidance of the Berne Convention are, is it fair for authors to (1) double their residual income from DVD sales, (2) to claim rights to income from advertising revenues spent publicizing their works, (3) to claim rights to Internet reproductions and streaming videos of their works. Cinematographic works are unfortunately lost in the translation therefore to salvage employer/employee relationships Congress shall take the blame for the disagreement that gave rise to a strike. Cinematographic work is too distinct from other mediums and perhaps too charged to be buried in 17USC(1)§102(a)(3)&(6) dramatic works, including any accompanying music & motion pictures and other audiovisual works. These negotiations shall therefore be the beginning of the political activism bringing about a new set of laws, ie. Chapter, in harmony with the Berne Convention in honor of the world famous motion pictures of Hollywood.
31. The terms of protection granted by the Berne Convention shall be the life of the author and fifty years after his death under Art 7(1) however under clause 2 cinematographic works, such as we are dealing with in this case, enjoy much less frightening terms whereby the nation may provide for the term of protection to expire fifty years after the work has been made available to the public. The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act Pub. L. No. 105-298, 112 Stat. 2827 (1998) extended the term to 70 years after the author’s death. In Eldred v. Ashcroft. As noted in the Brief of Amici Curie from the Association of American Publishers et al. No. 01-618 of June 8, 2002 the Supreme Court extended the term of ownership of the copyright by the author to 50 years after death. Ruling upon this dispute it would seem the Court and AAP were not aware of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act and that the Duration of copyrighted Works created on or after January 1, 1978 is therefore 70 years after the death of the author under 17USC(3)§302 irregardless of the media in which the work was produced.
32. Art. 14 bis of the Berne Convention provides that the owner of copyright in a cinematographic work shall enjoy the same rights as the author of an original work. Authors, if they have undertaken to bring such contributions, may not, in the absence of any contrary or special stipulation, object to the reproduction, distribution, public performance, communication to the public by wire, broadcasting or any other communication to the public, or to the subtitling or dubbing of texts, of the work. Under Art. 9 authors have exclusive right to authorizing the reproduction of their work in any manner or form. Art. 11 bis provides that authors of literary and artistic works shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing the broadcasting of their works or the communication thereof to the public by any other means of wireless diffusion of signs, sounds or images; therefore they do have the right to demand residuals from advertising. Negotiation of these rights is a matter for national legislation that shall not in any circumstances be prejudicial to the moral rights of the author, nor to his right to obtain equitable remuneration which, in the absence of agreement, shall be fixed by competent authority. Under 17USC(2)§201(b) in the case of a work made for hire, the employer or other person for whom the work was prepared is considered the author for purposes of this title, and, unless the parties have expressly agreed otherwise in a written instrument signed by them, owns all of the rights comprised in the copyright.
33. The media is not unlimited in the work they can produce. They are restricted by public decency standards promulgated nationally by the FCC and Art. 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of December 16, 1966 that assures, 1. Any propaganda for war shall be prohibited by law and 2. Any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited by law. This provision is important because the show “24” was removed after years of complaints regarding the advocacy of torture and terrorist tactics by government agents. The show furthermore infringed upon the copyright of this author of Hospitals & Asylums, who drafted the Iraq Reconstruction Fund, the largest reparation in the history of international law, for the people who invented the 24 hour day, and have been plagued with murder hire of a money laundry ever since, in large part because of the media’s commercial sponsorship of bad discipline regarding the use of armed force and the laws of war. As the author I never saw a penny and it is doubtful that the Iraqis received more than termination letters regarding their Oil for Food program assistance, some slave labor and brainwashed suicide attackers.
34. While there is considerable evidence that the violence is organized for hire by quasi governmental agencies in the judiciary and health sector, working together, in the US, and military and security contractors in Iraq, it is inconclusive and there is certainly no justice to dismiss the inferior courts, anyway. The mass media must not weaken the peaceful resolve of the civilians to avoid Rwandan or Yugoslavian style violence, with irresponsible programming such as “24”. We are thankful that broadcasters have decided to pull “24” after the WGA Strike heightened public interest in motion picture and television content. In the future screen writers and producers must be more careful to uphold Art. 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of December 10, 1948 that provides in clause (2) “Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author” so that moral interests found to be not in line with Art. 20 of the ICCPR are censored from the mass media and all claims arising there from expeditiously settled so that all parties can return to gainful employment on socially responsible projects.
35. The Producer’s Comprehensive Proposal to the Writer’s Guild of America East and West is quite generous in regards to the regular purchase of rights to the works of authors under their contracts called, “upset price”. During the four year period since the release of a production if the writer desires to sell, license or otherwise dispose of any of the reserved rights, other than dramatic, theatrical or publication rights, the Company shall have a right of first refusal whereby if the Company within (7) days decides not to exercise the right of first refusal or fails to provide a written notice the writer is free to enter into agreement with the third party at (9)(A)(1) of pages 3&4 of the Comprehensive Package. To purchase rights to theatrical remakes and sequels Companies shall make an advance of $20,000 against the applicable amount ranging from $50,000 to $150,000 for productions with budgets less than $40 million to those more than $100 million at page 5 of the Comprehensive package.
36. The upset price for the work of writers, or teams of two, for network prime time dramatic programs, until 2011, varies on the length of time, from $9,783 for a 15 minute story to $111,316 for shows 90 minutes or longer at page 7 of the Comprehensive Package. The upset price for work other than prime time dramatic programs ranges from $6,315 for a 15 minute story to $78,876 for shows 90 minutes or longer at page 8. At pages 10 to 12 the high budget figure increases from $5 million to $25 million. The high budget cost for prime time network programs increases from $150,000 to $450,000 for shows 15 minutes or less to $4.5 million for shows more than 90 minutes with an additional $1.5 million for every 30 minutes additional to 120 minutes. High budget figure increases for non prime time shows range from an increase from $60,000 to $300,000 for shows 15 minutes or less to an increase from $450,000 to $2.5 million for shows from 90 to 120 minutes. There do not appear to be any disputes regarding the basic purchasing of rights from the author and the Comprehensive Package in fact seems quite generous for any author with steady work or scoring a high budget contract.
37. Under Art. II of the Appendix to the Berne Convention pertaining to the right of translation authorizes the substitution for the exclusive right of translation provided for in Article 8 a system of non-exclusive and non-transferable licenses, granted by the competent authority. Television motion pictures remade by a foreign production company in a language other than English for worldwide distribution on stations, including stations in the United States. For any foreign remake format sale, Company (or any affiliate Company) will pay to the WGA thirty percent (30%) of the foreign remake format license fee paid to Company for each remade episode of the series. Such payment shall be distributed by the WGA to the writer(s) who received final writing credit and creators credits, when the episode was originally produced at 16 on pages 12-15. This provision is enforced in the United States as Subject Matter of Copyrights: National Origin in 17USC(1)§104(b)(1) whereas on the date of first publication, one or more of the authors is a national or domiciliary of the United States, or is a national, domiciliary, or sovereign authority of a treaty party, or is a stateless person, wherever that person may be domiciled. Under Art. V of the Appendix to the Bern Convention limitation of the right to translation and licensing fees is generally granted to developing nations who make declaration that they cannot afford such costs but would like to enjoy the benefits of translation free of charge until such a time when they make the declaration that they are not longer a developing nation.
38. The majority of the disagreement pertains to section (11) Residual Payments for Theatrical and Television Motion Pictures at page 10 of the Comprehensive Package. The entitlement of the authors of literary and artistic works to residuals/royalties for which they, and their estates, are entitled to a percentage of sales of the finished product for a period extending until 70 years after their death under 17USC(3)§302 as are the producers, to an undisclosed amount, who have purchased the nonexclusive license for the reproduction of the work by hiring the author under 17USC(2)§201(b). Clauses (A) & (E) are not being disputed. Clause A provides that for all terrestrial and satellite radio broadcasts of television motion pictures, the literary material for which was written either prior to or on or after November 1, 2007, the Company shall pay to the credited writer(s) one and two-tenths percent (1.2%) of Company’s receipts from licensing such rights, although the union might demand more. Clause E promises to revise Article 15.B.1.b.(2)(c) so that when a television motion picture is syndicated in markets representing 50% or fewer of United States television households, residuals shall be paid on the same basis as under Article 58 (i.e., a payment of 2% of gross receipts is due for television motion pictures produced on or after July 1, 1984 and 2.5% of gross receipts is due for television motion pictures produced prior to July 1, 1984.
39. Section 11 Clause (B) at page 10 Confirms that electronic sell-throughs for permanent downloads of theatrical or television motion pictures (when all or substantially all of the picture is included) are paid at the home video/DVD formula. This clause does not provide for a specific rate. This clause also unfairly ties new media with tried and true money making medium of DVDs. The DVD formula is one of the most highly contested issues of strike. In 1988, the Writer's Guild went on strike over the home video market, which was then small and primarily consisted of distribution via video tape. At that time, the entertainment companies argued that home video was an "unproven" market, with an expensive delivery channel (manufacturing VHS and Betamax tapes, and to a much smaller extent, Laserdisc). Movies were selling in the range of between $40-$100 per tape, and the writer's guild accepted a formula in which a writer would receive a small (0.3%) percentage of the first million of reportable gross (and 0.36% after) of each tape sold as a residual. WGA members claim that a writer's residuals, or profits made from subsequent airings or purchases of a program, are a necessary part of a writer's income that is typically relied upon during periods of unemployment that are common in the writing industry. The WGA has requested a doubling of the residual rate for DVD sales, which would result in a residual of approximately eight cents (up from four cents) per DVD sold. Whereas the sum in question is so small labor would not unduly infringe upon capital by doubling the residual rate of DVD sales. Doubling the residual would make an insignificant dip in the balance sheet of producers and greatly improve the job security and satisfaction of authors.
40. Clause (C) of Section 11 promises to add a provision to the MBA stating that there shall be no residual payments for the exhibition or distribution of theatrical and television motion pictures, whether in whole or in part, in new media (other than as set forth in the “Sideletter on Exhibition of Motion Pictures Transmitted Via the Internet”). For this purpose, the term “new media” means any digital distribution platform now known or which is hereafter developed during the term of the 2007 Writers Guild of America Theatrical and Television Basic Agreement, including, but not limited to, digital video on demand, alternative digital broadcast channels, Internet exhibition, PDAs, broadband and cell phones. Section 26 Product Made for New Media (P-2) at pages 17 & 18 the Comprehensive Proposal promises to Revise the “Sideletter on Literary Material Written for Programs Made for the Internet” and must be stricken in its entirety for the Contract to stand any chance of being approved by the Guild. The Producers have written in a biased arbitration system. Section 26 and the final clause whereby all further proposals are rejected, killed the Contract, no self respecting writer would expect the reader to honor an agreement that so clearly directs the reader to reject the proposal and go on strike.
41. In regards to Internet sales WGA has proposed that writers receive 2.5% of distributor's gross for new-media sales and distribution. The companies have thus far refused to address this proposal, and have instead proposed that Internet sales follow the same formula as DVD sales. With regard to streaming, the companies have proposed that so-called "promotional" streaming—including the streaming of a program in its entirety and even for profit via advertising or other means— does not entitle residuals to the writer or writers whatsoever. Both of these proposals have been rejected by the WGA and are cited as evidence that the studios "(want) to shut down rather than reaching a fair deal. The paltry video residuals have already been the source of so much grief for the industy, inspiring not one but two writer’s strikes by the WGA whose writers have been aggressive enough to ensure that they be in the credits but cannot seem to ensure that they are given enough. Royalties, or residuals as the motion picture and television industry so disrespectfully calls the exclusive right of authors to their respective writings, promoted in Art. I Sec. 8 Clause 8 of the US Constitution that similarly confers no such titles of nobility upon its citizens, are needed so that the body politic is not separated from the mind that created it. Royalties are a fundamental part of democratic society that is frequently crushed by the people who enjoy success from the other aspects of exposure to the masses by means of the democracy as written by the Founding Fathers and Mothers. Whereas Internet and new media sales are not predictable they must be separated from DVD residuals to avoid conflict in the future. A 2.4% rate for new media residuals would be fair.
42. There have been a considerable number of copyright infringement complaints in regards to the digitalization of copyrighted works from library archives as noted in the way the Author’s Guild Sued Google citing massive copyright infringement as reported on September 20, 2005. In 2001, publishing giant Random House sued Rosetta Books, a start-up electronic publisher, for licensing and publishing e-book editions of works by William Styron, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and Robert Parker. Random House claimed it had acquired electronic book rights in contracts (signed in the 1960s through the 1980s) that acquired the right to publish those authors’ manuscripts in “book form.” A federal court disagreed with Random House’s argument, ruling that authors retain e-book rights unless they expressly grant them. This year, the federal appellate court affirmed that decision, leading to a settlement of the lawsuit. The Authors Guild played an active role in the suit.
43. The Authors Guild’s class action lawsuits against electronic databases and the New York Times for their many years of infringing the copyrights of countless freelance articles entered court-appointed mediation in 2007. The Google Library Program has agreements with four academic libraries — those of Stanford, Harvard, Oxford and the University of Michigan — and with the New York Public Library to create digital copies of substantial parts of their collections and to make those collections available for searching online. Google has not sought the approval of the authors of these works for this program. The suit alleges that the so so called $90 billion search engine gas giant and advertising juggernaut is engaging in massive copyright infringement at the expense of the rights of individual writers. E books sell a paltry $50 million nationally as noted in the Hospitals & Asylums Book Proposal HA-24-8-07. It is unlikely that streaming videos will be much more successful than ebooks, and as they are relatively low priced. It behooves the industry to set a reasonable negotiated residual rate of 2.4% in hopes of strengthening the fledgling Internet market that needs author subsidies to avert the overthrow of every government at the hands of the relentless fraudulent asset reporting of Google Inc. v. Hospitals & Asylums HA-24-10-06.
44. The final dispute is in regards to section 27 Promotional Uses (P-3) at (A) whereby notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the MBA, the Company shall have the right to promote, without restriction or payment, any motion picture for which literary material has been written or acquired under the MBA. And at (B) Confirm that a use may be promotional even if the entire motion picture is exhibited and even if the use generates revenues for the Company. This unlimited use of an author’s work for promotional advertising is clearly gives rise to breech of contract as an Assumption of contractual obligations related to transfer rights of in motion pictures under 28USC(180)§4001(a)(1). The transfer instrument shall be deemed to incorporate the assumption agreements applicable to the copyright ownership being transferred that are required by the applicable collective bargaining agreement, and the transferee shall be subject to the obligations under each such assumption agreement to make residual payments and provide related notices, accruing after the effective date of the transfer and applicable to the exploitation of the rights transferred. An advertiser hired by a producer can therefore be held liable for residuals.
45. The dispute between Art. 14 bis, and Art. 9 & 11 bis of the Berne Convention needs to be reiterated here. While the owner of copyright in a cinematographic work shall enjoy the same rights as the author of an original work, authors have exclusive right to authorizing the reproduction of their work in any manner or form and shall enjoy the exclusive right of authorizing the broadcasting of their works or the communication thereof to the public by any other means of wireless diffusion of signs, sounds or images; therefore they do have the right to demand residuals from advertising. The problem seems to be that producers need to fork out money to advertise and feel the authors are obligated to invest in promotion with them. This is however an error, 28USC(180)§4001(a)(1)(A) makes it clear that if such a collective bargaining agreement “will” be made, it must be respected. The writer’s union has expressed interest in earning a percentage of advertising revenues. A small percentage, like 0.1%, even less than DVD sales, seems like a good idea, the advertising firms would retain the interests of the writers of the movies and the quality of advertising would therefore improve.
46. In conclusion the Producer’s Comprehensive Proposal to the Writer’s Guild of America West and East October 25, 2007 requires technical editing, DVD residuals must double, Internet and new media sales should offer high residuals of 2.4% to avoid future conflict and authors must be entitled to a small residual from advertising revenues to improve collaboration. Furthermore, the motion picture and television industry must unite with their writers and actors unions to transfer section 406 of the WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties Implementation Act of 1998 Pub. L. No. 105-304, 112 Stat. 2860 that was improperly codified as a seizure at Title 28USC(180)§4001 to a new Chapter 14 of Title 17 Copyright with or without more regulation of the industry.
47. Since 2000, media conglomerate revenue from entertainment segments has increased 51% from $63 billion to $95 billion. Over the same period of time, Writer earnings and residuals have increased only 20% from $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion. Between 2005 and 2006 writers actually saw a decline in their income, only the highest-paid 25%, saw a 1.7% rise in earnings for those at the 75th percentile to $253,377. Earnings trends for other groups softened somewhat with the figure for the 95th percentile sliding 2.3% to $665,000; the 50th percentile was off 2.6% to $104,750; and the 25th percentile fell 1.7% to $37,777. Producers are doing too well to deny their author’s their rights and the contract is so authoritarian they can only blame themselves for the strike. Having reassured producers of tax breaks for any actual losses they might suffer everyone should go back to work united with a legislative mission.
48. To direct the technical editing we must begin by repealing the equal rights in discrimination at all of section 6 Crediting Fees/Program Fees and section 7 Appendix A. Further sections will need to be renumbered accordingly however in this guiding paragraph they shall be referred to as is. Section 11 Residual Payments for Theatrical and Motion Pictures needs to be rewritten. At (B) the residual rate for DVDs shall double. At (C) the residual rate for Internet and New media shall be 2.4%. At (D) Confirm with WGA that, applicable to Universal only, under Article 15.A., no compensation is due for the exhibition on free television of any theatrical motion picture, the principal photography of which commenced prior to June 13, 1960. Repeal Section 22 Article 48 Writer’s Participation in Production Process. Repeal section 26 Product Made for New Media. Repeal section 27 Promotional Uses. Repeal section 28 Withdrawal/Rejection. Repeal concluding clause, “Any of the Guilds’ proposals not mentioned herein are rejected”. Transfer section 23 Grievances and Arbitration to the end of the Contract to give the semblance of an alternative dispute resolution mechanism guaranteeing individuals the safety to voice to redress their own grievances. Having performed these six repeals, three amendments and one transfer the Comprehensive Proposal would be a surefire hit with Guild and the strike would break.
49. To prevent the motion picture and television industry from being scarred by this second, larger, strike the union and management must unite with a legislative purpose under Art. 2(4) of the Berne Convention to transfer section 406 of the WIPO Copyright and Performances and Phonograms Treaties Implementation Act of 1998 Pub. L. No. 105-304, 112 Stat. 2860 to a new Chapter 14 of Title 17 of the United States Code Copyright. Labor organizations operate in the political sphere as well as in the economic marketplace, seeking to obtain outcomes beneficial to their members, and in their view, to society as a whole. The political goal of unions is wealth redistribution, aggrandizement and protections and the political function as constitutional government in industry (Commons 1913: 121). In their quest for more unions can cross the line in the political sphere and use their power in favor of their narrow organizational interest. The essence of Industrial Democracy is found in the elusive legislative purpose, so well captured in this paragraph that identifies the legislative source of the industrial strife, and seeks to unite the writers and producers with the legislative purpose to free themselves and create a new Chapter 14 so that copyright could enter a new of equal protection under the Berne Convention. The concept of industrial democracy was one of the articulated goals of Senator Wagner who frequently sounded the industrial democracy theme in ringing notes, and scholars have subsequently seen in collective bargaining “the means of establishing industrial democracy must provide for the workers’ lives in industry the sense of worth, of freedom, and of participation that democratic government promises them as citizens”.
50. The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) amendments of 1974 allowed unions and corporations to establish political action committees to raise money on a voluntary basis and contribute these funds to federal candidates under a $5,000 cap for primary and general elections. Union contributions nearly doubled in current dollars over the years 1990-2002 rising from $41.4 million to $96.6 million. On a per member basis those contributions rose from about $2.50 to nearly $6.00 over the same period. Labor gives over 90 percent of its money to Democrats. Corporations tend to be much more balanced but they became more Republican during the 1992-2002 decade In 2002 businesses gave more than $800 million (Masters & Delany 2006: 492-505). Tri-Guild Auditing is provided for in the “Gross Receipts Residual Payments Monitoring Fund” side-letter on the following basis: The Companies agree to make payments to the Fund of $287,000 per year on July 1st of 2008, 2009 and 2010, provided that each of the WGA, DGA and SAG agrees to participate and make a payment of $37,000 per year to the Fund. In exchange, each participating Guild agrees that such payments shall be considered a settlement of potential claims for royalty distributions from the Copyright Royalty Tribunal at (8) on page 3 of the Comprehensive Package. In appreciation for this settlement the Tri-Guild Auditing, collaboration with advertising, and new media breakthrough shall focus upon improving the productivity and yes, profitability of production companies and industry in general, so in need of tax breaks to cover their losses.