In my last blog, I expressed cautious optimism that the WGA was making progress in settling its long-running dispute with CAA and WME, the two largest talent agencies and the last two holdouts in signing a franchise agreement...more
In April, 2019 the WGA directed its members to fire their agents unless the agents agreed to adhere to a Code of Conduct that would end the collection of package commissions and strictly limit their ownership stake in...more
The battle between the Writers Guild of America and the major agencies has been waged on two fronts for over a year, with mixed results.
Attention recently has focused primarily on the WGA’s pressure campaign to require...more
Many of us will remember 2020 as the year that the theatrical exhibition business irrevocably changed. Our last blog covered the landmark agreement between Universal Pictures and AMC, the world’s largest theater chain, to...more
These have been hard times for the movie theater business. Attendance peaked in 2002 at approximately 1.6 billion tickets sold. In 2019, that number had dropped by 25%, to around 1.2 billion. The proliferation of subscription...more
UTA has just announced that it reached agreement with the Writers Guild to sign a franchise agreement that will permit it to resume representation of writers.
This will bring a partial end to a dispute that has lasted for...more
In a down to the wire bargaining session, the Writers Guild of America negotiating committee reached agreement with the studios on a new three-year deal. This was unanimously approved by the governing boards of the WGA West...more
A planned Netflix movie about Sherlock Holmes’s sister is the target of a lawsuit from the estate of Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of the legendary detective. The estate has asserted both copyright and trademark...more
The performers union, SAG-AFTRA, has reached a deal with the studios for a new three-year contract covering theatrical, television and new media production. The proposal will still need to be approved by the national board...more
Another blow was struck in the litigation between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the top three talent agencies.
In April, the agencies prevailed in their motion to dismiss eight of the nine claims asserted against...more
The US Copyright Office issued a lengthy report concluding that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has “tilted askew” in favor of tech companies. It called on Congress to make changes in the act that will favor...more
After something of a war of words, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have resumed negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. This agreement will...more
The organizers of a Salt Lake City comic convention suffered another blow in their long-running trademark battle with the organizers of the San Diego Comic-Con.
The Salt Lake event styled itself as “Salt Lake Comic Con.”...more
Although the coronavirus pandemic has brought production to a virtual standstill, writers, unlike directors and performers, are still able to work on development. While they shelter in place quietly plying their trade, their...more
The full service agencies APA and Innovative Artists have signed the Writers Guild of America’s new agency franchise agreement. As a result, each will be free to resume representing writers but with some critical...more
To follow up a story we two previous blogs, Redbox and Disney have settled their lawsuit over Redbox’s sale of download codes from Disney “combo packs.
Combo packs were sets that Disney sold comprising a Blu-Ray and DVD of...more
In a move that could upend the US theatrical exhibition landscape, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice has announced that it will seek court approval to terminate the Paramount Consent Decrees.
The...more
This is an update on my blog post regarding the face-off between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the major talent agencies, through the Association of Talent Agencies (ATA).
To summarize–OMG!! ...more
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the major talent agencies are headed for a showdown. The consequences are literally unknowable but could upend the way the television business has operated for decades. This blog will...more
The TVEyes v. Fox saga has reached its conclusion. Following the Supreme Court’s denial of TVEyes’ petition for certiorari, the video clipping service had little choice but to settle Fox News’s copyright infringement lawsuit....more
Readers over 40 will remember the TV series MacGyver, which ran on ABC from 1985 through 1992. The show starred Richard Dean Anderson as a mild-mannered secret agent with an uncanny ability to escape the gravest perils by...more
The Supreme Court turned down the petition of TVEyes for reconsideration of the ruling of the Second Circuit that TVEyes infringed Fox News copyrights. TVEyes is a media monitoring service that records virtually all TV news...more
The battle of the briefs continued as Fox News urged the Supreme Court to take a pass on a petition for certiorari from TVEyes in a copyright case that has drawn considerable attention. As regular readers will recall, TVEyes...more
We last blogged about the Second Circuit’s denial of TV Eyes’ fair use defense in a lawsuit brought by Fox News. Now the Wikimedia Foundation (owner of Wikipedia), joined by other free press advocacy groups, have filed an...more
In March of this year, the Second Circuit reversed a decision by the District Court and held that the video clipping service operated by TVEyes infringed Fox News’ copyrights. We covered this decision in a previous blog....more