Scripts

 Posted on 8/16/1997 by J. Michael Straczynski <71016.1644@compuserve.com> to CIS


{original post unavailable}

"Am I out of touch, but doesn't the Basic Agreement with the Guild
give the writer the exclusive to sell the physical copies of the work?
Or is that something that died with the Strike of '61?"

Yes and no. For instance...my script for "The Coming of
Shadows" is being published in the UK by Boxtree, and subsequently in
the US. There is no ancillary payment for this other than the general
licensing fee that goes against the overall merchandising revenue
stream. (Showbiz talk, folks, pay no attention.) So I don't get any
kind of royalty on the script book per se at all. I called the WGA,
and this is entirely within their purview. Also, Fox is selling
X-Files scripts by their writers, and I believe the arrangement is the
same, or close to it.

jms