Netflix has lost a $ 42 million arbitration case brought against it by The Writers Guild of America (WGA) due to unpaid remainder.
The WGA went to arbitration over the hit 2018 movie Bird Box, and an external arbitrator said the streamer had paid too little for the film. As a result, screenwriter Eric Heisserer was awarded $ 850,000 in residual with an additional $ 350,000 in interest.
While the ruling initially concerned the Bird Box, the arbitrator has ruled that authors of the Netflix originals should receive the same licensing fees they pay for third party titles.
Writers Guild of America East wrote in an email to members: “As a direct result of this ruling, 216 writers on 139 other theatrical films receive an additional $ 42 million in unpaid residences. The guild is now seeking interest of around $ 13.5 million, which Netflix also owes writers for late payment of these residuals. “
Another major Netflix original cited in the email is the action movie Red Notice, which will receive $ 2.78 million (up from the originally proposed $ 850,000).
Netflix started using WGA talents in 2016, but its collective bargaining covers only theatrical runs. Rather than paying residual fees based on revenues earned in international markets as is WGA standard, Netflix wanted the Guild to accept a similar offer to DGA and SAG-AFTRA, which allowed the streamer to get a residual for less than the cost of the movie.
The WGA, however, rejected the offer and submitted the dispute to arbitration – it finally won at the end of last week.
The email added: “The upcoming 2023 MBA Negotiations are challenging us to address the industry’s rush to leverage the development of the streaming model to lower wages and working conditions for Hollywood talent. We hope writers and the entire Hollywood workforce will get their fair share of the value we create together. ”
