Writers have been rebuffed in their negotiations. Michael Eisner has claimed it's too soon to demand revenue from an unproven business model.
"For a writer to give up today's money for a nonexistent piece of the future -- they should do it in three years, shouldn't be doing it now -- they are misguided they should not have gone on the strike. I've seen stupid strikes, I've seen less stupid strikes, and this strike is just a stupid strike," chided the former Disney honcho.
However, as Boing Boing noted in a post by Cory Doctorow, Viacom patriarch Sumner Redstone has a pretty good idea. A video of Daily Show writer Jason Rothman pointing out Viacom's billion-dollar lawsuit against Google for alleged copyright infringement on YouTube painted Redstone as a hypocrite on the issue.
The video also zinged Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman over a statement he made this summer: "Viacom will exceed $500 million in digital revenue this year." Web media is part of that revenue projection.
Either digital content has an identified value, or it does not. Viacom, at least, thinks both conditions can be true. The writers disagree.
Tell me where the headline is misleading. Does it have to do with the part in the video where the writers make fun of Viacom for suing Google? Oh wait, that makes it completely accurate.
Fridays. Sheesh. Any more trolls? Bring it, freakshows, I need the chuckle.
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HIGHLY misleading headline
HIGHLY misleading headline and the comment just reflects no knowledge of the situation.
-- first, writers DO get paid. Writers are paid substantial amounts for their scripts and, unlike in any other industry, they ALSO get to participate in revenues. (Airline employees don't get an increase when they start charging you a ticketing fee).
-- second, writers are paid on download to own and other forms of pay distribution AND there is an offer on the table to pay a royalty on ad-supported internet distribution, too.
-- Writers and Viacom are on the same page on at least one issue - they both want to collect as much revenue as possible for internet exploitation. Where they differ is on how much the writers (which are one of many necessary suppliers) get of the pie. One way for writers to be assured of not getting paid for internet distribution is to support piracy - the studios can only share what they earn, and internet distribution hurts revenues from tv and movie distribution too. Ron Howard was quoted today as saying that "on a fundamental level, [downloading] is going to start eroding the market for television residuals." Precisely.