Idea Lawyer Blog

Silicon Valley; Los Angeles....Netscape founder Marc Andreessen posted Patrick Goldstein (LA TIMES) column ostensibly on the Writers Guild. Goldstein touts the not so new concept of "writer entrepreneur" (writers have always been entrepreneurs - ask anyone who ever looked for an agent or shopped a script :) But I take issue with a glaring contradiction in Goldstein's loose draping of examples that masquerades as a point. Taking a dig at the Writer's Guild, he writes:

Real change in today's world comes from the energy and ideas of entrepreneurs, not from labor negotiations. To take control of their work, writers have to cut out the middleman. Marshall Herskovitz and Ed Zwick, who just struck a deal with NBC to air their "Quarterlife" Web-only dramatic series, will reap most of the rewards, since they own the show. Not every writer has the clout of that duo to attract outside investors. But as the Internet has proved time and again, game-changing ideas are more likely to come from an unknown 26-year-old newcomer than a fiftysomething veteran.

Who the heck is Goldstein dissing? Since when has "follow the money" failed to tie in some "fiftysomething veteran" somewhere in the process?

He continues:

The models are everywhere today, especially in the music business, where economic upheaval has given birth to a new array of artist-entrepreneurs. Radiohead and Prince have both bypassed the soul-killing tangle of retailers and promotion people by releasing their latest records themselves (with Radiohead using the Internet as its distributor, even letting its fans set the price of the record themselves).

My point: Prince is not an "unknown 26 year old newcomer" nor is Radiohead...
So I'm not clear on Mr. Goldstein's point...

If his point is that the tools for the Average "unknown" exist for posting homemade stuff on YouTube and MySpace - I agree. If his point is that out of this barrage of crap, some folks will connect with deep pockets and gain traction, I agree. But if his point is that the big business infra-structure of the film industry will be buried like Pompeii in the volcanic eruption of popular dreck now clogging the public digital highways- I disagree. How many of us sew our own clothes or cook when there are talented folks to do it for us that we may comfortably consume?
And call me curmudgeon, but frankly I have yet to see a "must-see" anything on the Web, and that includes copyright infringing material....

Or is he telling the Writers they need no Guild? Go naked into the snake pit of the media biz? Lose heart in the negotiation
and go it alone?
And since Mr. Goldstein thinks so highly of the entrepreneurial prospects of the Internet and Media...here are the points of the negotiation dealing with "new media" (excerpted from the WGA website)

Residuals for "new media" distribution. The Companies want new media distribution - such as ad-supported streaming or cell phone mobisodes - to be completely free. The Companies would pay no residuals at all.

Guild response:

The fair share of new media revenue that writers deserve should not depend on whether their work is sold, rented or streamed. That is why the Guild has made a simple proposal: writers should receive 2.5% of revenues from ALL new media distribution.

No coverage of writing for new media. The Companies' proposal denies the Guild jurisdiction over writing for new media: the Internet, cell phones and other digital technologies.

Guild response:

The Guild demands jurisdiction over writing for new media. Increasingly, there is no distinction between programs developed for television or the Internet. Without Guild representation, writers will be coerced into doing Internet writing for little or no compensation, without any of the protections of the MBA.

I'm on Mr. Goldstein's side when he argues for more entrepreneurship by writers. A decade ago your truly went in front of major entertainment firms with the vision that the new media would create a world where independents could circumvent much of the power of the big media companies, But I think he may be missing the
real point of the writer's strike: the big media players still control huge sections of the entertainment industry, and writers are not compensated with their fair share. The glib assertion that by taking outside money a writer WILL get a fair shake shows that Mr. Goldstein has not had intimate dealings with the average Venture Capitalist. Come to Silicon Valley. Mr. Goldstein - land of the VC and home of the brazen :)

see also: Writer's Strike