ABC iTunes Blunder?

Podcasting News points out that ABC is in hot water with the Screen Actor's Guild for selling episodes of their TV shows on iTunes. The Screen Actor's Guild has issued a statement about their intent to pursue arbitration against ABC. According to a statement from SAG president Alan Rosenberg:

"In violation of our collective bargaining agreements, ABC recently began selling Lost and Desperate Housewives for digital download to iPods without first bargaining with Screen Actors Guild. Today ABC advised the Guild that it intends to pay residuals to performers based on the videocassette formula - a formula that does not apply to this new platform."

This is something you need to pay attention to, particularly if you're repurposing content. As an example, if you are an agency releasing commercials and "behind the scenes" video on iTunes as a podcast, you need to secure the rights to do so.