At a videoconference meeting today in New York and LA, AFTRA’s national board unanimously voted to approve joint bargaining with SAG for the Primetime Television Contract and the SAG TV/theatrical contract. The move comes a month after SAG’s national board voted, by a tally of 82% to 18%, to “seek engagement with AFTRA in a joint bargaining agreement for negotiation of the Television/Theatrical Contract.” Assuming SAG and AFTRA sign a formal agreement to bargain jointly – which seems highly likely – the negotiations with the AMPTP (studio alliance) will be conducted under the Phase One

About 60 pilots for scripted network primetime programs will be shot under AFTRA contracts this year, while few – or perhaps none – will be produced under SAG jurisdiction, according to sources close to the two unions, who spoke on condition of anonymity. This continues a trend that began last year, when roughly 90% of pilots (and 83% of pilot pickups ) went AFTRA. Those numbers, in turn, were a stunning reversal from previous years, which had had SAG garnering about 90% of pilots and 86% of pickups in 2008.

The SAG National Board yesterday passed a resolution, by a surprising 82% to 18% vote, directing the guild’s president and National Executive Director to “seek engagement with AFTRA in a joint bargaining agreement for negotiation of the Television/Theatrical Contract,” as quoted in a SAG press release. This move is as I predicted in a blog post three weeks ago, based on conversations then with a confidential source. Those negotiations, scheduled for October 1 – November 15 of this year, would take place “under the terms of Phase One, modeled on the agreement used successfully in the 2009

Look for The NCAA Rules Adoption, Interpretation, Enforcement, and Infractions Process: The Laws that Regulate Them and the Nature of Court Review in the Spring 2010 issue (Vol. 12, No. 2) of the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law .

Lindsay Lohan has filed suit against eTrade for using the name “Lindsay” in its Superbowl ad. (source) source) Apparently, Lohan’s position is that eTrade used the name “Lindsay” to trade off her name and likeness. The complaint is here, and a perfunctory review of it leads me to the conclusion that it is a [...] ...Tags:

Kate Harding doesn’t care. She doesn’t want to take it away, even if it is bad. She does, however, demand evidence for any claims to the contrary. (source) Filed source) Filed Filed under: Adult Entertainment Law ...Tags: