If you are a produced screenwriter, this is important.
It does not matter if you are a member of the WGA (Writers Guild of America) or not.

This is about foreign levies money that YOU may be owed.

On February 8, 2010, Art Eisenson and I filed objections to the proposed Class Action Settlement in the case of Richert v. Writers Guild of America, Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BC339972.  In this lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that the WGA received and kept for its own use millions of dollars in Foreign Levy royalties that should have gone to deserving writers.

Mr. Eisenson is a long-time WGA activist, and I have actively followed and written about this case and its history.

The objections were filed on our behalf by two law firms, The Law Offices of Steven J. Kaplan, P.C. and the Law Offices of Jeffrey Winikow.

Separate additional objections and a request to intervene were filed by Eric Hughes.  Mr. Hughes is a long-time WGA activist who has investigated Foreign Levy issues and written extensively about the Richert litigation.

A final settlement conference is now scheduled in the Superior Court for March 9, 2010 in Department CCW-311, Central Civil West Courthouse, 600 South Commonwealth Ave., Los Angeles, California 90005, at 9:00 a.m..

Mr. Richert, other plaintiffs and WGA entered into a preliminary settlement agreement in the Fall of 2009.  That preliminary settlement agreement would require WGA, among other things, to (i) make certain reports concerning its collection, distribution and retention of Foreign Levy money, and (ii) make its “best efforts” to distribute Foreign Levy money to deserving writers.  The preliminary settlement would apply not only to non-members of WGA, but to all members of WGA, and all writers of both WGA-covered projects and non-union projects.

The Objections that we filed with the Court criticize the proposed Settlement for many reasons, including that:

1. WGA is under a fiduciary duty to pay union and non-union writers their Foreign Levies but is not doing so. The proposed Settlement only requires WGA to make its “best efforts” to pay the money.  This simply is not good enough.

2. WGA does not have a responsible program for collecting and distributing Foreign Levy royalties.  The settlement says that WGA consultants will prepare a report recommending improvements, but the report is to be kept secret from the plaintiffs themselves (not to mention all writers), and WGA has no obligation to implement the recommendations. 

3. WGA does not have any right in the first place to collect and distribute royalties owed to non-WGA writers.  But worse, writers of non-WGA motion pictures seem to be getting only 50% of their Foreign Levies, and it looks like the other 50% is going either to non-deserving production companies or the WGA itself.  There is no justification for this give-away.

4. The Settlement appears to skirt California’s escheat laws by allowing WGA to keep unclaimed money for an unnecessarily long period of time, and then give the money to charitable organizations rather than to the State of California where it will be held for the benefit of deserving writers.

5. WGA is allowed to increase its administrative fees for processing Foreign Levy payments from 5% to 10%, and keeping interest earnings, without any certified accountant justification for this.

6. The Release agreement is way too broad given the paltry and mostly illusory benefits that writers are getting in the Settlement.

 

Download the PDF of Stefan Avalos and Art Eisenson's filed objection.

 

If you are a screenwriter and not familiar with what foreign levies are, feel free to read an investigative article I wrote for FADE IN magazine when I first became aware of this.

Please note: nothing in this article is to be construed as 'legal advice' or 'accusation'. It is to get you up to speed on what foreign levies are and what, to the best of my research abilities, I found in 2007.

Click here for FADE IN Magazine article.

I cannot make public comment on this, however, if you are a produced NON-GUILD writer, contact me.