The president of WGA West Meredith Stiehm sought to reassure the members that the guild does his best to work in their favor during his speech to the Guild Awards on Saturday evening.
Not only did she comment once against the use of writers’ work to train AI systems, but she also took a blow to the Trump administration, declaring: “We do not surround ourselves in front of the intimate. »»
“As president is being married by the richest man in the world, working very hard to hurt vulnerable people, anarchy, inlessia is scandalous,” she said. “People are naturally afraid, and I can only speak for our community here. We are only a small union in a state, but I mean to our members, the values of the guild have not changed. We believe in work, freedom of expression, civil rights, inclusion and equity. »»
She has sworn to “protect and repel politically”, reminding members that the union has already endured four years from Donald Trump in the oval office.
Hollywood has gone through a few difficult years, and writers in particular faced incredible difficulties.
In the heels of devastating forest fires, which launched a year which, according to the writers, could bring a stay after years of work stoppage and a contraction of massive production, Stiehm said that the union worked hard to “do These projects here in Los Angeles ”.
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The WGA and Sag-Aftra embarked on two strikes in 2023 which armed the protections of the AI, and, without surprise, Stiehm also approached that in the Beverly Hilton room on Saturday.
Recently, several unions have called on studios to bring legal action against AI societies using work protected by copyright to train their algorithms. Since writers have been selling their work to these companies, they themselves have less appeal.
Stiehm reiterated this call for action on Saturday, urging studios to “get up and retaliated on AI”.
As an additional proof, the union works as best as it can to serve its members, Stiehm added that the guild had recovered $ 78 million in late salary and residues due to writers in the past year.
“If you are not paid properly, call us. We will have your money, ”she promised.
She continued: “It is the kind of calm but fierce work that the guild does every day. The state of this union is strong. The board of directors, the captains, all the staff is a plus. We are courageous, powerful, compassionate. Now more than ever, I am proud to be WGA and represent you, our members. »»
