As of 8.01 am UK time this morning, the Writers’ Strike is at an end.
The WGA’s boards on both the East and West coast of the United States voted unanimously on to lift the strike order following a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
Writers are expected to return to work today even though the deal has yet to be voted on by the union’s full membership.
The WGA has released the full contract and a summary of the agreed terms, which includes protections for the use of artificial intelligence in the writing process, one of the main talking points of the strike.
The protections include:
- AI can not write or rewrite literary material, and AI-generated material will not be considered source material under the MBA, meaning that AI-generated material can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights.
- A writer can choose to use AI when performing writing services, if the company consents and provided that the writer follows applicable company policies, but the company can’t require the writer to use AI software (e.g., ChatGPT) when performing writing services.
- The Company must disclose to the writer if any materials given to the writer have been generated by AI or incorporate AI-generated material.
- The WGA reserves the right to assert that exploitation of writers’ material to train AI is prohibited by MBA or other law.
The ratification vote for the new three-year contract will take place in early October.
