DVD Ethics
A few days after the writer’s strike began a Best Of The Colbert Report DVD was released but I have yet to pick it up. I bought I Am America (And So Can You!) the day it came out so why haven’t I gotten the DVD yet? A moral question, believe it or not.
The issue at hand in the writer’s strike is DVDs and new media. Nearly 2 decades ago the last strike centered on similar issues and the writers got what seemed to be a tiny piece of what the powers that be were calling an ‘untested market’. They’re trying to use the same argument nearly 20 years later!
DVD sales brought Family Guy back from cancellation so I daresay it’s now a proven market and the old logic preventing writers from getting a fair slice no longer applies. So what are these writers asking for? 2.5% of DVD sales. So of the $20 DVD you buy $0.50 would go to the genius behind it. Seems fair to me.
Now granted I don’t have a detailed understanding of the market so it may be more than it seems. I simply don’t know the margins. But even if this seemingly very small slice of the pie would come at too great an expense to someone else why not just pass the cost along to the consumer? I’m one of the cheapest most price-conscious people I know and 50 cents doesn’t impact my buying decision on DVDs.
So in my opinion, admittedly not very informed on the subject, this issue shouldn’t be hard to resolve. Especially when you consider the last strike cost the industry half a billion dollars.
What about new media? Well I say let’s break this down into 2 issues: paid and free online delivery.
Paid, such as iTunes, should pay a percentage. Unpaid such as entire episodes of a TV show hosted for free I have no idea how to resolve - this one area still IS an untested market so I have to side with management on this one.
So give the writers a negotiated percentage for DVD and paid online sales but shaft them on promotional freely provided online content they have already been paid for (i.e. A TV show which airs on broadcast TV). Someone once defined a compromise as something neither side is completely happy with but both can live with - this would seem to fit the definition.
So I’ve solved this multi-million dollar dispute in just a few paragraphs, why haven’t the professionals? Well the management side refuses to negotiate until the strike is over. Clearly these clowns don’t have the faintest idea how collective bargaining works. And if they want to negotiate without a strike they would have done so before the contract expired! So the current state of affairs can be laid at the feet of the big corporations.
And if you buy a DVD during the strike they’re the people you’re supporting. The money you spend goes into their war fund. So here’s what I suggest as a moral alternative. Take the money you would spend on DVDs and put it in a high-interest savings account. Then when the strike is over go on a shopping spree. You still get your DVDs plus a little interest and the knowledge the people who wrote what you enjoy have gotten recognized for it.
You’ll sleep better knowing you did the right thing.
A quick disclaimer: I don’t believe the UK or Canada are involved so content produced entirely in those countries should be fine. So y’all can still get me Doctor Who, Torchwood, Corner Gas, Hustle, Sarah Jane Adventures, and Dragon’s Den DVDs for Christmas. Not sure if those last 3 exist but it would be sweet if they did. Sweeter still if they existed in my sock or a box with my name on it.
Just saying.
