Writers Guild of Great Britain
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| Full name | Writers' Guild of Great Britain |
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| Founded | 1959 |
| Members | 2,400 (2016) |
| Affiliation | TUC, IAWG, FEU |
| Key people | Olivia Hetreed, president |
| Office location | London, England |
| Country | Great Britain |
| Website | www |
The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG).
It represents writers working in television, radio, film, theatre, books and multimedia.
It negotiates a series of Minimum Terms Agreements governing writers' contracts and covering minimum fees; advances; repeat fees, royalties and residuals; rights; credits; number of drafts; script alterations and the resolution of disputes. The most important MTAs cover: BBC TV Drama; BBC Radio Drama; ITV Companies; PACT (independent TV and film producers); TAC (Welsh language independent TV producers); Theatrical Management Association; Independent Theatre Council; and an agreement covering the Royal National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and Royal Court Theatre. These agreements are regularly renegotiated and in most cases the minimum fees are reviewed annually.
WGGB advises its members on all aspects of their working lives. This includes contract vetting, legal advice, help with copyright problems and representation in disputes with producers, publishers or other writers.
Regular events are organised for members. Recent examples (2015–16) include a Meet the Agents event in London, Television Writing: Women's Work? in Leeds, an exclusive Archers event in the West Midlands, plus screenings of new and upcoming film releases. The Annual General Meeting each summer features an address by an industry professional/s, an opportunity to debate issues of importance to writers and amend WGGB's rules.
WGGB is a campaigning union and effective lobbying efforts have concentrated on MEPs considering the European copyright directive, and MPs, peers and the media over the Communications Bill and the BBC Charter renewal. WGGB made strong protests when crowd violence halted performances of Behzti by Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti at the Birmingham repertory theatre in December 2004, and subsequently revived its Anti-Censorship Committee. WGGB makes a point of highlighting the importance of writing for children in all media. It co-operates closely with other unions including Equity, the Musicians' Union and the Society of Authors; and is affiliated to the British Copyright Council, Creators' Rights Alliance, Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom and other pressure groups. WGGB representatives attend regular briefings with the Arts Council, Ofcom, the Public Lending Right agency and other national bodies.
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