AFTRA holds firm on online clips
June 30 contract expiration looms
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The majors held their 11th day of contract negotiations Wednesday with talks slated to resume today amid a news blackout at the headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. Expectations had been high that AFTRA - with only seven shows to cover -- would have wrapped up a deal before this week and put pressure on SAG to make a deal when it comes back to the table next week.
Instead, AFTRA took a stance this week mirroring the Screen Actors Guild and declared that actors must still be asked for their consent for clips of their work to be used online. That's significantly lowered expectations of a deal coming any time soon.
Studios and broadcast networks can use clips for promotional purposes but are required to negotiate with the performers when clips are re-used for entertainment. The companies have asserted that there's plenty of potential coin for actors via developing a market for clips to compete with the massive amounts of pirated footage on the Web.
But the companies say that the unions need to change their stance on the requirement to seeking individual approval from thesps for using the clips. Otherwise, they assert, the consent provisions will make the business model unworkable.
Both AFTRA's and SAG's deals expire June 30.
At a SAG member meeting Monday night, the clips issue generated the strongest response among the more than 400 thesps in attendance.
