WGA addresses 'misleading' AMPTP ad

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- The Writers Guild of America said statements about WGA demands made in a new ad from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are "misleading."

"The AMPTP has been making some misleading statements. I want to make sure you know the truth," David Young, executive director of the Writers Guild of America West and chief WGA negotiator, wrote in a message posted on the WGA Web site.

"They say writers are already paid residuals for digital downloads. That's true. We are paid one-third of 1 cent per dollar made by studios for digital downloads. ... This is a paltry amount for work that we have created. We are asking for 2.5 cents per dollar, which is what we currently make on ad-supported TV programming."

The AMPTP also said writers were paid $260 million in residuals in 2006.

"This was our contractual share of a record-setting $20 billion the studios earned from reruns of the work we created. The companies' rollbacks would cut our residuals in half," Young said.

"The AMPTP has a large advertising budget and we can expect them to issue many more misleading statements. We know, however, that the truth will prevail."