AFTRA talks will resume
Current contract to remain in force during interim
Sessions were suspended to allow time to analyze data regarding health insurance for recording artists. AFTRA said Monday that other issues that have surfaced in negotiations include artists' rights to exploit product that is no longer in print.
The current contract will remain in force during the interim. The pact, which has been extended from its June 30 expiration, generates annual earnings of about $150 million for 15,000 AFTRA members and covers performances by singers, music groups, narrators, choruses, actors and Broadway casts.
More than 200 recording artists signed letters of support for the union's efforts to expand artists' rights in the contract. The missives cited issues such as maintaining health insurance coverage, pension credits, the right to acquire and market their recordings, "unreasonably long contracts" and revenues from new technologies.
