Studios slip on AFTRA clip trip

Leaders want consent for online video use

By DAVE MCNARY

In a surprise development, AFTRA has joined the Screen Actors Guild
in declaring that actors must still be asked for their consent for
clips of their work to be used online.

With both performers unions putting their feet down on the clips
issue, Monday's announcement probably means the town's ongoing
uncertainty over labor will linger for the foreseeable future.

"A resolution may not be quick or easy," warned AFTRA president
Roberta Reardon in a message to members.

The move by the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists
came as its primetime negotiations with the majors were in their
ninth day amid a news blackout. Talks will resume this morning.

With the AFTRA contract covering only seven shows and the union
perceived as being far more pragmatic than SAG, many had expected
AFTRA to have wrapped a deal by now. Instead, Reardon disclosed that
her union won't budge on the consent issue -- a stance mirroring
SAG's position at its feature-primetime talks, even though the two
performers unions have been at war with each other and are
negotiating separately for the first time in three decades on this
contract.

Notably, she also praised SAG for its "respect and courtesy" in
sharing details with AFTRA from the guild's 18 days of negotiations
with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. The AMPTP
had no immediate response.

Reardon characterized AFTRA's talks with the AMPTP as professional
and businesslike before diving into detail about the clip issue.

"We've already delivered a strong message that performers will not
relinquish consent for excerpts in new media, which would compromise
the integrity of members' work, their reputations or their
employability in scripted programming," Reardon said. "The
negotiating committee is also mindful of the hard realities affecting
the television business today -- including audience fragmentation,
piracy and the other complexities arising out of the fast-evolving
new-media landscape -- and the impact this has on the wages and job
opportunities for working performers."

Studios and broadcast networks can use clips for promotional purposes
but are required to negotiate with the performers when the clips are
used for entertainment. The companies are seeking to develop a market
for clips to compete with pirated footage on the Web but assert that
being required to seek individual approval from thesps would be so
cumbersome as to preclude the feasibility of the business model.

Essentially, the congloms are telling the performers unions that the
only way that actors can retain any control -- and make any money --
over reuse of clips online is by removing the consent requirement.

But Reardon contended that, with safeguards, the industry can
"satisfy and profit" from consumers' desire to access content
legitimately rather than through piracy. And she hinted that AFTRA's
open to new approaches on the clips issue.

"There are no easy solutions, which means that our negotiating
committee must be both innovative and pragmatic, and the industry
must also embrace a realistic approach," Reardon added. "Given the
rapid changes around us, we cannot afford to waste any time chasing
rainbows. Our obligations to AFTRA members requires us to be focused,
firm and solutions-minded in order to effectively ensure that working
performers have a fair and realistic chance to participate in the
future of the television industry."

Both AFTRA's and SAG's deals expire June 30.

In a recent SAG website video posting, national exec director Doug
Allen stressed that actors have had the right of refusal on clip
reuse in traditional media for 50 years. He called it "one of the
real boulders in the road" that the two sides need to traverse in
order to reach a deal.

SAG's contract talks recessed May 6 despite objections from the guild
that a deal was within reach. The congloms disagreed with that
assessment and insisted they were obliged to launch the twice-delayed
negotiations with AFTRA, which opened the next day.

SAG's scheduled to be back at negotiations no later than May 28.

Read the full article at:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117986073.html

Posted: Mon., May 19, 2008, 9:28am PT