LOS ANGELES — Hollywood writers plan to strike today after last-ditch talks called by a federal mediator failed.
Writers and studios broke off talks late Sunday after East Coast members of the writers union declared they were officially on strike, the group representing producers said.
Last-ditch negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers ended after about 11 hours.
Writers are striking against TV networks and movie studios over writers’ share of profits from DVDs and the Internet.
Writers get about 3 cents on a typical DVD retailing for $20. The guilds have tried and failed for two decades to increase video payments, even as DVDs have become more profitable for studios than box office receipts.
Unions say they won’t make the same mistake with the Internet.
Studios argue that it is too early to know how much money they can make from offering entertainment on the Internet, cell phones, iPods and other devices.
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