The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike has officially come to an end. After 148 days of work stoppage, the boards of the WGA West and the council of the WGA East voted unanimously to lift the strike order, effective from 12:01 a.m. PT on the following day. This decision followed a tentative agreement on a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
Writers were allowed to return to work immediately, even before the final ratification vote. The ratification vote itself is scheduled to take place from October 2nd to October 9th. In the meantime, the WGA will hold member meetings in person and via Zoom this week on both coasts to discuss the contract’s details. Given the strong support from the WGA negotiating committee, it is anticipated that the contract will be easily ratified by the members who are eager to end the strike.
The decision to lift the strike order came after unanimous votes from the WGA’s negotiating committee, the WGA West board, and the WGA East council to send the contract to members for ratification. The WGA West held a member meeting at the Hollywood Palladium, while the WGA East convened at the Manhattan Center, both on the same night. Zoom meetings were also scheduled for the coming days.
The new contract, which spans 94 pages, includes various improvements such as increased compensation, minimum staff requirements for TV writers rooms, better payment terms for screenwriters, and safeguards regarding the use of artificial intelligence in the writing process, all in accordance with the guild’s agreement.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has outlined several key points regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the context of their Master Basic Agreement (MBA):
AI cannot write or rewrite literary material, and AI-generated content will not be considered source material under the MBA. This means that AI-generated material cannot be used to diminish a writer’s credit or rights.
Writers may choose to use AI when providing writing services, but only if the company consents and as long as the writer adheres to relevant company policies. Companies, however, cannot mandate that writers use AI software (e.g., ChatGPT) for their writing services.
Companies are obligated to inform writers if any materials provided to them have been generated by AI or incorporate AI-generated content.
The WGA retains the right to assert that utilizing writers’ work to train AI is prohibited by the MBA or other applicable laws.
The decision to end the strike was unanimous and followed successful negotiations between writers and Hollywood studios for a new three-year deal on September 24th. These negotiations resulted in compromises on various issues, including the role of generative AI in the creative process, minimum staffing requirements for writers’ rooms, and streaming residuals.
“We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership,” the WGA said in a statement announcing the tentative deal Sunday.
WGA and AMPTP have yet to release the details of the tentative agreement, which WGA membership will vote to ratify in the coming days. Before the contract goes wide to the guild for that vote, the WGA negotiation committee must first vote to send it along to the WGA West and WGA East boards for approval, and the boards have to OK the document before it is sent to the larger membership for a ratification vote.
The WGA’s vote to end the strike order puts an official end to the work stoppage, which was still in effect as of Sunday, when the WGA told membership: “To be clear, no one is to return to work until specifically authorized to by the Guild. We are still on strike until then. But we are, as of today, suspending WGA picketing. Instead, if you are able, we encourage you to join the SAG-AFTRA picket lines this week.