More Detail on the AMPTP's Clips Proposal

• The primary dispute is over the re-use of film and television clips in new media for non-promotional uses.  The use of clips for promotional purposes is already permitted.

• AMPTP is proposing a new structure tailored to the unique challenges and opportunities of new media; SAG wants to carry over 50-year-old union rules.

• A significant black market for clips already exists.  Clips are already available on black market Web sites and video sharing services as a result of Internet piracy.  These clips will be out there with or without our industry.  That means that actors have already lost control over their images without receiving any compensation whatsoever.

• There is the potential to create a significant legal market for clips, which would generate new revenue for actors.  Given the public demand that already exists in the black market, there is a high likelihood that a "clips iTunes" would be a success.

• Film and television libraries are essential to the creation of the new, legal market.  Existing rules would require the Producer to bargain hundreds or thousands of times with an individual performer over clips from a single series or feature.

• Under 50-year-old SAG and AFTRA rules, clips from the library, even those lasting only a few seconds, can only be used if the Producer "bargains" separately with every performer in the clip and reaches an agreement to pay each performer at least the day player minimum of $759.  This administrative burden will prevent the industry from developing a lawful clips market and allow black market to flourish on its own.

• AMPTP has never proposed to sell clips without paying actors.  Indeed, a legitimate market would generate brand new sources of income for Guild members.

• Producers also have no incentive to devalue their own product by allowing clips to be used for unauthorized purposes.  AMPTP has proposed various safeguards – including continued consent for scenes involving nudity – to help protect actors from what is now occurring on the black market.