for allegedly violating California’s Cartwright Act, and allowed several individual plaintiffs to pursue their claims in court, including their individual claims of breach of fiduciary duty and their Unfair Competition Law claims. The individual counterclaimants include Patricia Carr, Ashley Gable, Barbara Hall, Deric A. Hughes, Deirdre Mangan, David Simon, and Meredith Stiehm.
“Talent agencies have represented writers for almost a century. But what began as a service to writers and other artists in their negotiations with the studios has become an unlawful price-fixing cartel dominated by a few powerful talent agencies that use their control of talent first and foremost to enrich themselves,” the guild said in its filing today – an argument it has made throughout the year-long court battle.
“Today, however, the three largest talent agencies make money not by maximizing their clients’ earnings and charging a commission, but by bundling the representational services sold to writers and other talent with services provided to studios and collecting what are known as ‘packaging fees.’ Packaging fee amounts are not directly tied to the Agencies’ clients’ compensation but instead come directly from television series and film production budgets and profits.
“The Agencies pursue packaging fees ‘über alles’ because the Agencies now make the vast majority of their revenues from packaging fees, which are far more lucrative than simple commissions.”• Enjoin the Agencies from receiving any monetary payments or other things of value from any production company that employs any of its writer-clients;
i’m not one to stick up for the agents but the WGA have acted like petulant children and it’s sad to see this childish never compromise attitude infecting not just our politics. we get it david ur mad u only have 20 million instead of 25 million. can u stop destroying stuff now?