Hollywood Wants Its Share of Video iPod's Sales

A few days after the video iPod was announced, Hollywood unions have initiated an action in which they request a sales quota to be paid for the material which will be available for the video iPod.

The initiative was started by five Hollywood studio unions and represents actors, screenplay writers and directors who contributed at the production of shows distributed through iTunes, for the new video iPod.

The agreement between ABC and Apple marks the existence of the first TV network which allows viewers to download off the Internet the "Lost and Desperate Housewives" series only one day after being aired. It's easy to imagine that once a precedent has been established, the other television networks won't take long before making their content available.

The initiative is also a first considering that prior to the battle between Apple and ABC, the unions have quarreled many times over the copyrights and over the profits generated from DVD sales.

According to the signed contracts, screenplay writers are entitled to 1.6% of the license fee paid by televisions to producers, and the actors to 3.6%. For now, it hasn't been established what percentage of the $1.99 sum charged by Apple for one downloaded episode will go to producers and actors.