Here's the Deal: Details on the final Writer's Strike deal.

After many months, the 2023 Writer's Guild of America Strike is over. Since starting in May 2nd, Writers have been negotiating with studios on various aspects of writing for them. On September 25th, the negotiations finally came to an end, with 99% of WGA members voting in favor of ratifying the new deal. Here is what the arrangement details:

The new deal went into effect on September 25th of this year and the term will go until May 1st, 2026. Most minimums within the MBA have increased 5% on the 25th, and will increase periodically each year (4% on 5/2/2024 and 3.5% on 5/2/2025). Health and pension contribution rate has also increased by 0.5% and will increase an additional 0.5% on the second and third year of the contract.

A very important deatil is the effect of AI on writers. according to the contract, "AI can’t write or rewrite literary material, and AI-generated material will not be considered source material under the MBA, meaning that AI-generated material can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights." Additionally, companies must disclose to the writer if any of the material given to them is AI generated and that while a writer can choose to use AI in the creation of their craft, they are not required by the studio to write using AI tools like ChatGDP. The Writer's Guild of America reserves the right that studios cannot exploit writers for use to train AI. 

Additional terms of the agreement include Improved terms for screenwriter employment, improved terms for streaming and subscription video services, increased compensation for series employment and many more. This was a great first step towards better arrangement for our writers, for without them, we wouldn't get the stories for our movies and shows that we love so much. While this deal is complete for the next few years, The Actor's guild was unaffected by this decision as they still are on strike as of the writing of this article. Here's hoping they get just as fair of a deal as the Writers.

Source and additional details here: https://www.wgacontract2023.org/the-campaign/summary-of-the-2023-wga-mba