Given the debate about generative AI, the terms obtained by the Writers Guild from studios may be of interest. A studio exec said the plan was to starve the writers out until they lost their homes (yes, he said that, literally) but the studios eventually decided they were losing too much money. Among other things, the studios agreed for the first time ever to share information about viewership and popularity of streaming shows: while they added some limits and weasel wording, this ends the situation where the studios were black boxes that hid all the data and paid residuals based on whatever they claimed the data said.
In this and other areas, it was a major win
for writers. Congratulations!
The AI terms:
"AI can’t write or rewrite literary material, and AI-generated material will not be considered source material under the MBA, meaning that AI-generated material can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights.
A writer can choose to use AI when performing writing services, if the company consents and provided that the writer follows applicable company policies, but the company can’t require the writer to use AI software (e.g., ChatGPT) when performing writing services.
The Company must disclose to the writer if any materials given to the writer have been generated by AI or incorporate AI-generated material.
The WGA reserves the right to assert that exploitation of writers’ material to train AI is prohibited by MBA [this agreement] or other law." (i.e., the lawsuits by the WGA [and every other major writers' and artists' organization] about ripping off their copyrighted property in training AI and wording outputs can continue separately.)
Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in Colorado Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com.
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