Writers plan online channel
Striking film and TV writers plan to launch their own online entertainment channel, StrikeTV.org, in February, in part to raise money for members.
The online channel will feature original video shows created by working professionals in the TV and film industry. Funds raised by online advertising will go to the Writers Guild Foundation Industry Support Fund, assisting non-WGA members, including members of the Teamsters union affected by the strike, according to the group’s MySpace site.
“StrikeTV videos will not be about the strike,” according to the site. “This is a chance for writers to do what they do best — be original and tell stories. These shows will be self-funded and owned by their creators.”
StrikeTV will provide videos up to 40 minutes, although most likely will be 5 to 7 minutes, according to the site.
Shows will be rolled out in slates, with the number of slates dependent on the number of videos produced.
The Writers Guild of America strike, which began Nov. 5, is against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, a trade organization representing the interests of 397 American film and television producers, over future royalties from online content.
More than 12,000 writers have joined the strike.
Scrabulous under fire
The creators of an online version of Scrabble are being attacked by the game’s owners, Hasbro and Mattel Inc.
A two-man team based in India created a Facebook application called Scrabulous, and the addictive game has been played by more than two million members, according to wire service reports.
Hasbro sent a letter to Facebook recently alleging copyright violation and theft of intellectual property. The letter asks Facebook to remove the game immediately.
Hasbro has the U.S. and Canadian rights to the board game, in which players form words with letter tiles. Mattel Inc., which owns the worldwide rights outside the U.S. and Canada, also sued the makers of Scrabulous.
Last year, Hasbro took a similar action against some Web developers who created a Google Maps-related application based on the board game Risk.