The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain has launched a manifesto which calls on whoever forms the next Government to implement recommendations that centre around “fair pay, fair treatment, a sustainable sector and copyright and AI” to ” protect, nurture and support UK writers.”
The WGGB says that despite the creative industries worth of over £124 billion to the UK economy, writers are “often underpaid, unprotected and their vital contributions overlooked.”
A poll of WGGB theatre members post-pandemic found that 74% of playwrights had lost income due to the Covid shutdowns and 50% believed they would not be working in two years’ time. And a WGGB survey on writers and AI published in 2023 found that 65% of respondents believed that increased use of AI would reduce their income from writing, while 61% were worried that AI could replace jobs in their craft area.
WGGB’s manifesto recommendations centre around fair pay, fair treatment, a sustainable sector and copyright and AI.
WGGB General Secretary Ellie Peers said: “Our members conjure the characters, worlds and stories that delight audiences, whether that’s on the page, stage, screen or across our airwaves.
“Writing is a highly skilled job and everything starts with the writer – without them there would be no feature films, TV or audio dramas, no plays, no books, poems or videogames.
“They provide the fuel that fires our creative industries, which in turn makes a major contribution to the UK economy. We call on whoever forms the next Government to enshrine protections for writers on fair pay and fair treatment, ensure that the creative sector is sustainable and, in a world that is being transformed by AI, introduce robust protections on copyright.”
The WGGB Manifesto, Putting writers at the heart of the story, is here.
Jon Creamer
Share this story
