How is J.J. going to get paid?
A collection of media heavyweights (and middleweights) gathered at Brainstorm this morning to talk about entertainment in the Internet age, and not surprisingly, the discussion turned to protecting the rights -and bank accounts - of content creators. When a company like News Corp. or Disney takes a hit program and repackages it or repurposes it for an iPod or a cell phone, how do the creative types get theirs?
William Morris Agency CEO Jim Wiatt illustrated the problem thusly: Shortly after Disney CEO Bob Iger announced plans to make the television show "Lost" available for viewing on iPods, Wiatt called "Lost" creator J.J. Abrams (a William Morris client, natch) and asked if he had any idea the venture was in the works. Abrams said no, so Wiatt says he then called Iger and asked: "How is J.J. going to get paid?" Iger, according to Wiatt, said, "I don't know." Wiatt paused and looked at former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, who was sitting across the room and added: "If I had asked Michael he probably would have said: "He's not." 
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