Modest Proposal: Reuse... for Advertisers!

This Modest Proposal was submitted by Andy Reaser. -JA

Last week, the studios proposed a residual fee of $250 for the unlimited
reuse of our content online for one year. Let's just assume for a moment
that such a low fee is fair. If that's really all the studios should pay to
reuse our content, then I think we should encourage advertisers to demand
something similar: $250 for the unlimited reuse of a time slot.

Under the current system, when an advertiser, Budweiser say, buys a
timeslot, they only get to play their expensive commercial ONE TIME. That
doesn't seem fair, does it? Wouldn't it make more sense for Budweiser to buy
a thirty second slot during Sunday night primetime, and then for a fee of
$250 get to use that timeslot over and over for the rest of the year?

I know such an arrangement would be untraditional. It would cripple the
studio's economic structure, much like my personal economic structure would
collapse if we accept a figure like $250 and reruns move exclusively to the
Internet.

But the loss of BILLIONS shouldn't matter much to the networks after they
factor in the tens of MILLIONS they'll save from a lowball contract with the
WGA.

If I were an advertiser, I'd see the current negotiation as the opportunity
of a lifetime. But be warned, ad buyers. The studios aren't going to like
the sound of your New Economic Proposal at first. They might balk and
complain like a bunch of writers. They might even accuse you of being
draconian (a word they learned from us this summer). Still, I urge you to
push ahead. If the studios can bust the Writers Guild, you can bust the
studio alliance.