And so it starts again: The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is planning to file for arbitration against the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP), alleging that the producers are not complying with the new contract that was negotiated after a prolonged strike during the winter of 2007-08. The full WGA statement is here. Details after the jump.

Pic courtesy: NoHoDamon

The points in WGA’s new complaint:
—That the media companies part of AMPTP are not paying residuals for writers’ work that is reused on new media. Of course this was the main issue of the WGA strike.
—WGA is “embarking on an aggressive contract enforcement program—including legal action—to ensure that the AMPTP companies make good on their obligations,” it says.
—WGA says that its residual agreement with media companies covered feature films after July 1, 1971, and TV programs produced after 1977. It now says that “the companies have reneged on this agreement and are taking the position that only programs produced after February 13, 2008 are covered by the new provision. This may be their deal with the DGA, but that was never our agreement.” AMPTP and DGA came to an agreement after the WGA agreement was struck.
—“Our tracking has shown that episodes are staying on websites longer than the 17-day initial window called for in the contract. This triggers the payment of a residual, but so far we’ve seen nothing,” said David Young, executive director of the WGAW.

With the economy in shambles, any other stoppage in work would be devastating for the entertainment community. Also, with online revenues for media/entertainment companies also being affected with the economy, don’t expect them to start paying more than absolutely necessary at this point, and they may even try to figure out workarounds if they can.

• Writers Vote To End Strike; New Contract Still Must Be Ratified
• DGA Deal Ratified By Members