[Blarg]

They want to preserve their intellectual property rights, which includes the right to profit from their creations, in the media they write for. It makes no sense for them to get paid for their intellectual property rights sometimes, but not others. Owners want them to be construed as service providers who provide a service and then are gone. However, that is the definition of what a writer does, and how intellectual property rights work, that is the one seeking to reconstrue established understanding and precedent.

The writers have given a pass to getting a boost in their cut of DVD sales to, I think it was 5 to 8 cents per DVD, up from I think it was 4 cents. They are very concerned about the future of the media moving into downloadable shows, which at present both pay them nothing and don't have shipping or media costs to cut into profits either. It's the wave of an extremely lucrative future that they see coming and in which they presently have no part despite established conceptions of intellectual property law.