Statements

Authors Guild Statement of Solidarity with the Writers Guild of America

Literary Culture

May 3, 2023

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The Authors Guild stands in solidarity with our fellow writers and members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), who began a strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on May 2, 2023. The WGA’s demands for adequate compensation, weekly employment guarantees, improved royalty rates for streaming, and protection from the unlicensed use of creative work in generative AI technologies resonate with writers across all fields, including book authors and journalists. 

As the creative industries enter into a new era of technological disruption and an entrenchment of consolidated power, the WGA’s strike underscores the urgent necessity of action, dialogue, and policy interventions. We stand by the WGA’s pursuit of fair treatment and compensation for writers’ invaluable contributions to the film and television industry and urge the AMPTP to engage in good faith negotiations to address these crucial concerns.

“Writers and story-tellers are the lifeblood of the film and television industry. They deserve to be fairly treated for the immense value they contribute,” said Mary Rasenberger, CEO of the Authors Guild. “Many Authors Guild members are also members of the WGA, and are directly affected by the conditions the WGA is striking against. But these conditions are playing out in every sector of the creative industry—including publishing—where a few large companies with enormous leverage are squeezing creators’ incomes. Book authors face a similar crisis and are forced to accept unfair, one-sided terms—and so we seek the right for authors and freelance writers to collectively bargain to improve their terms, as screenwriters can. We applaud the WGA for holding steadfast and using its collective power to protect writers.”