Q&A: May 2005 Archives

A: It depends on who hired you.

When you’re figuring out whether or not your work is covered by the WGA, the crucial question is “Who is my contractual employer?”

Typically, the SciFi Channel does hire writers through a MBA signatory company. If they do, the writer should be protected no matter to whom the company might transfer rights (there’s a large part of the MBA that deals with these kind of “assumption agreements”, in which the signatories agree to contractually oblige their transferees to “assume” the responsibilities the MBA dictates).

Imagine, then, that getting hired by a signatory is like an “original blessing”. From there on out, things should be okay.

Should be. The fact is that through either malice or ignorance, companies occasionally screw up, and the writer suffers. There’s a working rule that practically no one follows, but it’s probably for the best that everyone did. We’re all supposed to file copies of our employment contracts with the Guild. If you’re a WGAw member and you ever have any questions about how protected you might be in your dealings with a particular employer, do not hesitate to call the WGAw.

And tell ‘em I sent you.