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November 13: You Can't Scare Me. I'm Stickin' to the Union.

2007-11-13 · letter vlog · John · 3:55 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing (also: Internet & YouTube) · mode: News analysis · tags: timely hook, community lore

John backs the striking TV and film writers: authors get a royalty on every format, so producers calling ad-supported internet streams 'promotional' to avoid paying residuals is wrong, since content that makes money is just content.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Ear infection aside; why John is discussing the writers' strike; authors are paid a royalty on every format; screenwriters' residuals

  • ★ John still has a bit of an ear infection, but viewers pointed out last week (week of 5 November 2007) that he never really had facial symmetry anyway. (playful) — 00:00:00 · John Green
  • ★★★ John wants to discuss the writers' strike because it affects his TV habits and because he worries about its larger implications for creative work in the US. — 00:00:00 · United States
  • ★★ John explains that for each copy of his book sold, in any format (paperback, CD, tape, audio download or internet-only), the publisher pays him a share of the sale, called a royalty. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ In screenwriting and TV writing the analogous share is called a residual; John says the name differs because the studio technically owns the copyright. — 00:00:39

00:01:08 — Residuals named differently because studios own the copyright; advance reader's copies are given away unpaid as promotion

  • ★★ John is not paid for advance reader's copies of his book, which are given free to librarians, independent booksellers and reviewers to build excitement, and so are promotional tools. — 00:01:08

00:01:38 — Producers call ad-supported online TV 'promotional'; Family Guy on MySpace and Fox; content that makes money isn't promotional; writers want pay in every format

  • ★★★ John reports that producers say writers shouldn't be paid when their TV shows are watched online next to ads, because that is promotional content. — 00:01:38
  • ★★ John's example: whole Family Guy episodes stream with commercials on MySpace; Fox owns both, profits from the ads, yet says it needn't pay the writers because it's promotional. — 00:01:38

  • ★★★ John argues that you can't make money on promotional content: once it earns money it is no longer promotional, just content. — 00:02:07

    “if you do make money on it, it's not promotional anymore. It's just content.”

  • ★★★ Writers want to be paid for their work regardless of format, on TV, a movie screen, MySpace or YouTube, as John is for every format of his books: to be treated like authors. — 00:02:07 · YouTube

00:02:36 — Writers want to be treated like authors; the unknown-revenue argument answered with Brilliance Audio and An Abundance of Katherines

  • ★ John adds that authors are, for the record, treated alright but not that well. (playful) — 00:02:36
  • ★★★ To producers who say unknown internet revenue rules out a residual rate, John replies that his audiobook publisher can't know its MP3 sales either; a percentage works whether four or four million sell. — 00:02:36 · An Abundance of Katherines

00:03:05 — Shared responsibility; appeal to return to the negotiating table; P.S. a Nerdfighterlike video, thanks for Hank's scavenger hunt video, today's clue

  • ★★ Paying the creator a percentage of revenue means everyone shares responsibility for both the failure and the success of what they create. — 00:03:05
  • ★★ John asks the negotiators to go back to the table and make a deal so that he can announce some very exciting news to the Nerdfighters. — 00:03:05 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★ In a P.S., John points to an adorable video in which Nerdfighters and the 'Nerdfighterlike' have outed themselves. — 00:03:05 · nerdfighterlike (coinage)
  • ★★ John thanks Hank for his funny scavenger hunt video, which left many Nerdfighters confused, and says each day's clue can be solved with almost no knowledge of earlier clues. — 00:03:05
  • ★★ John gives today's scavenger hunt clue, warning it is a doozy: a South Dakota place name (heard as 'Winter'; probably Winner, South Dakota). — 00:03:52 · Winner, South Dakota

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Writers Guild of America strike

Also: Projects: Nerdfighter Scavenger Hunt

Works: An Abundance of Katherines · Family Guy

Organizations: Brilliance Audio · Fox Entertainment Group · Myspace · YouTube

Terms: nerdfighterlike (coinage)

Concepts: residual (entertainment industry) · royalty payment

Places: United States · Winner, South Dakota

Only in the description or credits: Writers Guild of America

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