Ziggo and UPC sued. Writers to court because cable billionaires won't pay up

 Just imagine being a screenwriter. Or a journalist for a documentary programme. So you won't get a penny for your work in the Netherlands. Really. The broadcasters are already not generous. But then. Indeed, all the money that cable companies earn from the television viewers of the Netherlands disappears into the pockets of a few US companieswho in turn share it with a few broadcasting bosses, producers and some other big earners. All those bosses have nothing to spare for the people who think up and write all that. This makes it very easy to make a profit.

That was better for a long time, but for the simple fact that they no longer felt like it, clubs like Ziggo and UPC suddenly stopped paying. That now costs a little writer just a few thousand euries a year. Money for the shopping. While the boss of Ziggo recently complained that he only earned 15.7 million. Net.

Great injustice, in short.

Reason for the LIRA, the advocacy organisation for everyone writing in the Netherlands, to go to court. On 15 April, the time will come. Come all. I would say. Not just the writers, but perhaps useful if viewers also show solidarity for once. After all, without writers it will be rather bald. On TV.

More on this at the site of Lira, and a very clear video by Udo Prinssen of Carambolas Movies.