Hollywood guilds extend talks over interactive rights
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has announced that its guild agreement covering video games and other interactive productions has been extended until May 13, 2005. The same applies to AFTRA's interactive agreement (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists). These collective bargaining agreements were due to expire on April 15, which potentially could have resulted in a work stoppage. Instead, SAG and AFTRA are continuing to negotiate with Electronic Arts and other video game publishers on successor agreements during this extension period.
Certainly you would expect that residuals would be a major issue on the table. The current agreement, which has been extended twice, does not require payment of residuals to talent. By not requiring residuals in the past, which are standard in film and television, the guilds may have been trying to expand their reach in the interactive industry, in order to build a base to increase their leverage in the future. However given that the contract has been extended twice on this basis, it is possible that the guilds may now be trying to draw the line on this issue, even at the risk of driving some publishers to non-guild productions.
Complicating matters is the fact that unlike in the film and television industries, there is no collective body representing the video game publishers at the table. Also, it is generally believed that the percentage of talent that works under guild terms in the video game industry is much lower than in traditional media, which suggests a different balance of bargaining power than in traditional media.
Check out the reports in SAG Watchdog and on the Association of Talent Agent's newstand.
Cathy Kirkman is a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Palo Alto, California. Her practice focuses on intellectual