“To allow him to do so would upset long-settled expectations and reliance on WGA collective bargaining practices.” “Miller cannot have it both ways - availing himself of his screenwriting work on Friday the 13th to garner advantages only employees enjoy, while simultaneously insisting that he is an independent contractor for purposes of copyright termination rights,” states the producer’s appellate brief. To be both a union-covered employee and an independent contractor at the same time while performing a single function is out of the realm of square thought. Not when “work-made-for-hire” rules were specifically written to include works “prepared by an employee within the scope of his employment.” Moreover, the producer asserts this creates conflict with the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) that grants “employees” the right to organize or join labor unions and to bargain collectively. The producer believes that when Congress set copyright law, it considered and rejected an approach that would always treat screenwriters as independent contractors vested with rights they could shop to studios. Then, after proclaiming how the district court ignored all of this, comes an argument intended to spook the appellate judges. minimum salary, pension, residuals, etc.), so it’s argued that Miller can’t suddenly turn around now and claim being an independent contractor entitled to cancel transfer of Friday the 13th rights. ![]() As a WGA member for four decades, Miller got benefits (e.g. They tell the 2nd Circuit that the terms of the WGA collective bargaining agreement make clear that a screenwriter writing a screenplay is an employee. ![]() ![]() Since the ruling, the two sides have been unable to settle their differences to the frustration of Friday the 13th fans who await reboots, sequels and video games.Ĭompanies associated with producer Sean Cunningham are having a federal appellate court take another look at this dispute and making an argument that is much about labor law as it is about intellectual property.Īccording to the the producer, represented by a highly respected appellate team including Kathleen Sullivan at Quinn Emanuel, it matters that when Miller penned the Friday the 13th screenplay, he was a member of the Writers Guild of America. Production North of the Border Could Be Impacted Next
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |