The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced today (Wednesday) that they had reached a tentative agreement on a new contract. The producers reportedly gave in to AFTRA's demand that they seek permission from actors before a clip of their performance on a television show be shown on a website. Earlier, the Los Angeles Times reported that the agreement would also double the pay actors receive from movies and TV shows sold online and give AFTRA jurisdiction over all shows created for websites costing more than $15,000 per minute. The agreement was announced shortly before the AMPTP resumed negotiations with the Screen Actors Guild, which has jurisdiction over most dramatic series and sitcoms presented on network television. Analysts predicted that SAG would not accept a carbon copy of the AFTRA agreement. In a message to guild members, SAG president Alan Rosenberg complained Tuesday that AFTRA had excluded SAG observers from attending negotiating sessions with the AMPTP for the past week. While stating earlier that the union and the producers were close to a deal when the AMPTP broke off the talks early this month, Rosenberg indicated Tuesday that the union's demands remain what they were at that time and suggested that they had not been accepted.
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