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The article presents information on a report being presented to the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), outlining the status and position of SAG on new media and its importance to actors. It is stated that as the entertainment industry is earning high revenues through the use of new media, the actors should be provided with due residuals. New proposals that expand the concept to freelance performer contracts have also been discussed.

The article reports that Writers Guild of America (WGA) members have approved the guild's formal list of demands circulated recently is a prelude to the launch of negotiations for a new film and TV contract. The so-called pattern of demands, which places a heavy emphasis on increased residuals for digital media, was greenlighted by 96% of 3,176 WGA West and East members casting ballots, with 3,040 writers voting to approve and 136 against.

The article discusses that according to research by the periodical, SAG-AFTRA has failed to pay the residual payments costing in millions to actors, writers and directors since years.

In this article, the author discusses the flaws of the residual system in the entertainment industry in the U.S. He assesses that it was attributed to the systems expensiveness and time consumption to monitor usage in diverse media. He perceives that it is also accounted to the excessively different residual formulas and that these formulas depend on the different media, as conflict results due to distribution and revenue shifts among platforms.

The article reports that Hollywood's actors tentatively agreed to accept a new video game contract after failing to get enough member support for a strike over residuals. Negotiators for Electronic Arts, Activision and other leading game companies sweetened their offer at the last minute to avoid a return to the bargaining table after months of on-again, off-again talks with SAG and AFTRA. Residuals are hardly a dead issue, with the unions vowing to use the next three years to expand their jurisdiction so they have more leverage in the next round of negotiations. Only about 10%-15% of actors' work in video games is now covered under the union contract, which was negotiated by seven gaming companies and will likely be joined by at least 60 others.

The article offers information about a test deal of television production houses and television broadcasting networks. As stated, broadcasting companies and television producers must sign a deal before the audition of actors so that everything can be done within a primary target of budget. Reportedly, studios are including non-negotiable language to allow residuals for a first primetime rerun but it is also mentioned that most actors are accepting the new test deals without much clamoring

The article reports that motion picture director Stanley Brooks is liquidating his companies after American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) refused his settlement offer for outstanding residuals on the television series "Sordid Lives." It investigates how Brooks' company Once Upon a Time Films distributes proceeds, available to creditors. It informs that AFTRA members could not trust Brooks' offer to pay 500,000 dollars to settle 1.5 million dollars in outstanding residuals.

In this article the author investigates into the unclaimed residuals and royalties with the actor unions in U.S. entertainment industry. He mentions his experience of receiving his father's unclaimed money with Screen Actors Guild. Also mentioned are the details of unclaimed residuals and royalties with several actor unions including Screen Actors Guild,Writers Guild of America, and American Federation of Musicians

The author discusses problems with distributing royalty residuals to music artists because of insufficient identifying data collected by Sound Exchange, the nonprofit organization tapped by the U.S. Congress to distribute royalties for satellite radio and Internet music streams. Details of the registration process for artists and copyright holders in order to receive payment from Sound Exchange are discussed.

The article discusses how music recognition technology could help improve the accounting of broadcast royalties. The two largest performing rights societies in the U.S., Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) have installed automated listening stations to monitor over 100 broadcast and cable channels, allowing for a more accurate accounting of song usage. Executives comment on how the system will affect performing rights statements. INSET: TOUCH ME, I'M SLICK.

The article presents information on opposition to an October 2, 2008 decision by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) regarding fee rates for late payment of mechanical royalties by record companies to songwriters. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is appealing the CRB's inclusion of a 1.5% penalty on late mechanical royalties payments, saying the royalty splits are sometimes unresolved at the time of release. Issues regarding the CRB's 24-cent for mastertones are also explained.

The author discusses the Creative Industries in Transition series of symposia which were sponsored by BMI and the George Washington University Law School in order to address questions related to copyright paradigms in the 21st century. He notes that the impact of the internet on intellectual property has been dealt with in a reactive way by government and industry, and argues that a more proactive approach would be wiser.

The article focuses on the filing of an arbitration claim of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) which was asserted as misleading by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. It states that WGA claims that studios in the U.S. have failed to pay on new-media residuals to its members. WGA also claims that there are missing payments which include streaming media and reuse of work for programs sold as electronic downloads or Electronic Sell-Through.