International Affiliation of Writers Guilds
Encyclopedia
The International Affiliation of Writers Guilds is an international trade union
federation representing guild
s of professional screenwriter
s and playwright
s. Some affiliates also belong to national trade union
federations.
The IAWG strives to ensure that fair royalties
and residuals
are collected by enforcement of copyrights. If a member of one guild
emigrates to another country or the movie or play is exported, member guild
s automatically recognize their membership through reciprocal agreements.
A core function is the registering of scripts to verify original authorship. Most affiliates also have annual award ceremonies to celebrate accomplishments in the craft.
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
federation representing guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
s of professional screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
s and playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
s. Some affiliates also belong to national trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
federations.
The IAWG strives to ensure that fair royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
and residuals
Residual (entertainment industry)
A residual is a payment made to the creator of performance art for subsequent showings or screenings of the work. A typical use is in the payment of residuals for television reruns. The word is often used in the plural form.-Radio and television:The residual system started in U.S. network radio...
are collected by enforcement of copyrights. If a member of one guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
emigrates to another country or the movie or play is exported, member guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
s automatically recognize their membership through reciprocal agreements.
A core function is the registering of scripts to verify original authorship. Most affiliates also have annual award ceremonies to celebrate accomplishments in the craft.
Full members guilds
- Australian Writers' GuildAustralian Writers' GuildThe Australian Writers' Guild is the professional association for all performance writers, that is, writers for film, television, radio, theatre, video and new media. The AWG was established in 1962 and is recognised throughout the industry in Australia as being the voice of performance writers...
(Also affiliated with ACTU, www.awg.com.au) - Irish Playwrights and Screenwriters' Guild (A local unionLocal unionA local union, often shortened to local, in North America, or a union branch in the United Kingdom and other countries is a locally-based trade union organization which forms part of a larger, usually national, union.Local branches are organized to represent the union's members from a particular...
of SIPTUSIPTUSIPTU , or in Irish: CSTGT is Ireland's largest trade union, with around 200,000 members. Most of these members are in the Republic of Ireland, although the union does have a Northern Ireland branch...
, http://www.script.ie/) - New Zealand Writers GuildNew Zealand Writers GuildThe New Zealand Writer's Guild is a New Zealand trade union which represents writers in the fields of film, television, radio, theatre, video and multi-media. It provides services, events, networks, lobbying, and legal advice to those in the film and television industry...
(Also affiliated with NZCTU, http://www.nzwritersguild.org.nz/) - Société des Auteurs de Radio, Télévision et Cinéma (French-Language Writers in Canada, http://www.sartec.qc.ca/)
- Writers Guild of America, EastWriters Guild of America, EastWriters Guild of America, East is a labor union representing writers of television and film and employees of television and radio news. The 2006 membership of the guild was 3,770....
(Writers in the New York area, Also affiliated with AFL-CIOAFL-CIOThe American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
, http://www.wgaeast.org/) - Writers Guild of America, WestWriters Guild of America, westWriters Guild of America, West is a labor union representing film, television, radio, and new media writers. The Guild was formed in 1954 from five organizations representing writers, which include the Screen Writers Guild...
(Writers in LA/Hollywood, http://www.wga.org/) - Writers Guild of CanadaWriters Guild of CanadaThe Writers Guild of Canada represents more than 1,800 professional writers working in film, television, radio, and multimedia production in Canada...
(English-Language Writers in Canada, http://www.wgc.ca/) - Writers' Guild of Great BritainWriters' Guild of Great BritainThe Writers' Guild of Great Britain, established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the Trades Union Congress and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds .-Activities:...
(Also affiliated with TUC, http://www.writersguild.org.uk/)
Associate member guilds
- Sección de Autorres y Adaptadores de Cine (Writers in Mexico)
- Union-Guilde des Scénaristes (Writers in France, http://www.ugs-online.org/)
See also
- Federation of Scriptwriters in Europe
- Union Network InternationalUnion Network InternationalUNI Global Union is a global union federation for skills and services, gathering national and regional trade unions. It was launched on January 1, 2000. Its more than 900 affiliated unions in 140 countries have 20 million members...