On November 5, 2007, the 12,000 members of the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA), the official union representing writers in the film, television, and news media industries, went on strike. With luck, by the time you read this article, the strike will be resolved and we all will be back on our couches, bowls of popcorn in hand, watching our favorite programs. After all, what is so complicated about the writers’ demands? Is there really any debate about whether writers should enjoy a share of the revenues generated by the ever expanding digital pie?

For those of you who may not know, the 2007 WGA strike is all about who is entitled to revenue generated by the distribution of television programs and movies via DVDs, digital downloads to cell phones and iPods, or streamed over the internet. The studios and networks assert that revenues generated by new technologies and distribution channels are unpredictable, and thus, that it’s premature to negotiate residual payment to writers for such programming, particularly if such payments result in increased studio production costs. The writers, on the other hand, say the studios already are reaping tremendous profit from such distribution. They state that, just as they are entitled to residual payments when the programs they write are shown repeatedly through traditional distribution channels, they are entitled to payments when the shows they write are digitally reproduced, downloaded, or streamed.