Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer What would it take to get a fair residual in streaming? That is the question at the heart of both the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
It’s also a deep question, with roots in the history of technology and its impact on labor going back nearly a century. Residuals are, now and always, the product of a struggle.
In the simplest terms, they are the payments that artists receive for reuse of their work. Unique to the entertainment industry, they are calculated through obscure and mysterious formulas.
When a green envelope arrives in a writer’s mailbox, she often has no idea how many zeros will be on the check. Residuals are also fiercely defended.
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