"It's Not a Bonus"

"You're fighting over residu-wha?" That's a question picketers have heard countless times over the past two days from curious passersby and distant cousins. This piece on the Huffington Post by Chris Kelly is as clear and simple an explanation as I've seen. Here's a key excerpt:

A residual isn't a handout or an allowance or Paris Hilton's trust fund. It's not a lottery payout, or alimony, or an annuity from a slip and fall accident at a casino.

A residual is a deferred payment against the lifetime value of a script.

It's not a perk.

It's okay if you didn't know that. It's in the best interests of a lot of fairly large corporations that you don't.