The Writers Guild of America (WGA, labor union for writers in film, television, radio, and online media) announced on September 27 that it had reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP, represents American television and film production companies). With this new agreement, companies under the AMPTP will not be able to use AI to write or rewrite literary material. AI-generated material will also not be considered source material under the agreement, which means that it will not be used to undermine a writer’s rights or compensation. It also says that nothing restricts a writer (or the WGA on behalf of a writer) from asserting the exploitation of their literary material to train, inform, or in any other way develop generative AI software or systems. The agreement will be voted on by the guild members from October 2nd through October 9th. With the strike over, writers can now return to work during the ratification process. WGA clarifies that the writers going back to work does not affect the membership’s right to finalize contract approval. Some context please: The WGA has been on strike since May 2, 2023, because the guild failed to reach an agreement with the AMPTP on residual payments (This is compensation for the reuse of a writer’s work. Materials created by writers under the WGA are entitled to compensation for reuse) for writers who create content for streaming services. The writers also wanted artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as…
