UK writers show support for US strike

A demonstration has been held outside the TUC building by British film and TV writers, in support of the current writers strike in the United States. The protestors stood outside the building, holding placards reading "We support the Writers Guild of America." Protests were also held in Paris, Berlin and four cities in Australia.

One of the demonstrators, Mark Burton, who has worked on Have I Got News for You, Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run said "The issue at stake was how creative artists are paid in the digital world."

David Edgar, president of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, said that without payment for internet use, writers' relationship to their work was like, "the widget-maker's relationship to the widget, once it is made - that is, none at all."

The strike, which started on 5th November, was instigated over arguments to do with payments from DVD sales and digital downloads. The strike has affected the production of several comedies, including The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Office – An American Workplace, My Name is Earl and the forthcoming American version of Little Britain.

Perhaps more importantly, the strike caused the cancellation of a debate on CBS news between the Democratic presidential candidates due to be held on 10th December, after Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama said they would refuse to cross a picket line the WBA had threatened to set up.