The Writers Guild of America, the union representing most of the writers of our favorite movies and TV shows, might be going on strike at any time as negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers were broken off . The two groups have been at odds for months, particularly fighting over the royalty issues over new media revenue. Obviously this is one big fight over money. Producers want to keep more. Writers want to be paid more.

But I must say, this threat of striking and ruthless contract negotiations is sickening. The WGA went on strike back in 1988 and made similar threats in 2000 and 2001. And here we are again. The reason I feel so frustrated reading about this strike (and the risk to missing out of Battlestar Galactica) is that I have no sympathy for either side.

Movies and television, ever year, just keep making more and money. They have more avenues for revenue than ever before. So why do producers have to be so damn greedy. And while I’m certain writers get regularly screwed by producers, I have long wondered why writers believe they are entitled to live forever on royalties of some TV episode they wrote 50 years ago. And when their precious royalties are threatened, they threaten a strike. The WGA is just fodder for arguments against unions. I think Wal-Mart workers have more need from a union that a bunch of middle class writers.

But I’m not trying to get into a political debate here about unions. I’m simply disgusted by the greed that permeates the entertainment industry. Producers try to argue the, as they claim, money lost due to piracy hurts the little guys, like the writers who live paycheck to paycheck. If that’s true, than why do the producers want to pay the writers even less? And if that’s the case, then why don’t we just pirate stuff so the producers make less money? Then they’ll have a much better argument for not paying the writers.

Now the writers demanding royalties is somewhat understandable. They’ve been getting money for no work since the 1950s. The argument for royalties is a way of sharing the profits of a successful movie or TV show. And royalties serve a purpose, for a time. Maybe for five years. Ten years. Keeping these royalties and similarly copyrights over their work indefinitely goes against the point of giving these writers copyrights - to promote creating more. If a writer can make a living for 50 years off a single television series, what’s the incentive to create more? Of course, I would argue that producers shouldn’t hold copyrights indefinitely, but again, step by step.

In the end, this is just a bunch of greedy Hollywood folks who can’t figure out how to share billions upon billions upon billions of dollars. There’s not some easy solution and I’m kinda just venting here - venting over the idiocy and the shock that the writers and producers keep getting away with these games. Striking won’t help the writers. Movie producers will just make reality films, just like TV: who needs writers.Well, I have the perfect solution. Give me all the money. Then no one gets it. Except me. That’s fair, right?