WGA West urges US regulation to halt Disney, Amazon and Netflix’s ‘anti-competitive practices’

CC: Vincentas Liskauskas (Unsplash)

The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) has called on the US government to more tightly regulate Disney, Amazon and Netflix, in a bid to stop what it claims are “anti-competitive practices”.

The LA-based division of the WGA, which is in the midst of discussions with the companies via the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) to settle the 108-day-old US writers strike, unveiled its regulatory call in a report detailing the effects of the companies’ dominance.

The report, titled The New Gatekeepers: How Disney, Amazon, and Netflix Will Take Over Media, claims it is “crucial that antitrust agencies and lawmakers” take actions including blocking consolidation; investigating anti-competitive issues more thoroughly, and increasing regulation around streaming.

WGAW’s claims against Disney, Amazon & Netflix

The report claims that Disney, Amazon and Netflix has been “abusing their dominance to further disadvantage competitors, raise prices for consumers and push down wages for the creative workforce.”

It adds that “without intervention, these conglomerates will seize control of the media landscape and the streaming era’s advances for creativity and choice will be lost.”

“These new gatekeepers have amassed market power through mergers and other anti-competitive practices, offering an alarming window into the future of media,” adds the report.

The report’s release comes at a sensitive time, with the WGA and the AMPTP holding face-to-face talks for the first time in months.

Laura Blum-Smith, WGA West research & public policy director, added that the US industry is “transitioning” from investment and competition, to a “monopolistic model that will concentrate control over entertainment programming in the hands of just a few large and powerful corporations.”

She continued: “For writers, that means fewer buyers for their work, employers who exert more leverage in individual deal negotiations, and depressed pay and working conditions.”

The report claims that all three companies have used acquisitions and rapid growth to underpay writers and cut out independent producers.

The US writers strike, meanwhile, continue to rumble on with WGA and AMPTP members meeting yesterday for a third time this week. Reports suggest the CEO’s of the major studios are due to talk on Friday about the latest developments.