WGA Wins Arbitration That Will Allow More Writers To Reacquire Their Unproduced Screenplays

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The Writers Guild is on a roll, prevailing in yet another significant arbitration on behalf of its members – this time winning a dispute involving a feature film writer’s right to reacquire their original, unproduced script that the guild says “paves the way for more similar rulings.” The arbitrator’s ruling in that case follows a recent landmark “self-dealing” arbitration against Netflix that the guild says will result in hundreds of writers on more than 100 Netflix theatrical films receiving an additional $42 million in underpaid residuals, and the settlement of a similar arbitration against Amazon in which the WGA has collected more than $4 million in underpaid residuals and interest on dozens of films produced or acquired by the studio. RELATED: WGA Collects Moer Than $4 Million In Settlement With Amazon Over Unpaid Residuals In its latest win, in the case of a writer reacquiring his unproduced original script, the WGA West says in its current newsletter – WGAW Connect – that “not only is the award a win for the screenwriter, but the ruling is helpful to all screenwriters seeking to reacquire an unproduced script by clarifying that certain actions by the company simply aren’t enough to put a script in ‘active development’ in order to avoid the reacquisition process.” Procedures for reacquisition contained in the guild’s Minimum Basic Agreement state that “at any time during the two-year period immediately following expiration of the Company’s five- year period within which to actively develop the material, the writer may notify the Company in writing of the writer’s intent to reacquire the material.” “As the creators of valuable intellectual property,” the guild notes, “screenwriters can often find a new buyer for