Abstract
References
Information
For the effective exploitation of content IP, it is essential to establish standard terms of trade—that is, terms, conditions, and formulas that are repeatedly applied to particular modes of use. The existence of transaction terms recognized as industry standards reduces uncertainty in rights clearance, facilitates the exploitation of IP, and thereby enables a virtuous cycle in which the returns generated from such exploitation are distributed among relevant rights holders.
Because the exploitation of content IP inherently involves the expansion of source content into new media and new modes of use, however, the formation of standard terms of trade cannot be completed through a one-time process of rulemaking. Rather, their substance lies in continuous renewal in response to changes in the media environment. Against this background, this study examines how standard terms governing the exploitation of content IP are formed and sustained amid continuous changes in the media environment by analyzing seventy years of the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) regime between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). As the MBA effectively governs the broader U.S. studio production system, encompassing companies such as Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Sony, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and Warner Bros., it provides an appropriate case through which to examine the formation and evolution of standard terms of trade.
This study conceptualizes the structure through which the outcomes of successive negotiations are accumulated into industry-wide standards, beyond one-off negotiations by individual firms, as a “collective and iterative coordination mechanism,” and analyzes its major bargaining phases. The analysis finds that standard terms of trade under this regime were formed and renewed through four major phases: television (1953 and 1960), the differentiation of secondary distribution markets (1988), the internet (2007–2008), and streaming and artificial intelligence (2023). Each phase represents a process through which newly emerging arenas for the exploitation of content IP, created by technological change, were incorporated into the scope of standardized transaction terms.
An inductive analysis of these developments identifies four elements that have sustained the continuous renewal of standard terms of trade: (1) the institutionalization of renewal procedures through built-in expiration and renegotiation; (2) modularity that enables the incorporation of new modes of use; (3) the bilateral nature of adjustment, which keeps both parties at the bargaining table; and (4) extensibility that allows the scope of standardization to be flexibly adjusted.
Because the exploitation of content IP inherently involves the expansion of source content into new media and new modes of use, however, the formation of standard terms of trade cannot be completed through a one-time process of rulemaking. Rather, their substance lies in continuous renewal in response to changes in the media environment. Against this background, this study examines how standard terms governing the exploitation of content IP are formed and sustained amid continuous changes in the media environment by analyzing seventy years of the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) regime between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). As the MBA effectively governs the broader U.S. studio production system, encompassing companies such as Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Sony, Netflix, Amazon, Apple, and Warner Bros., it provides an appropriate case through which to examine the formation and evolution of standard terms of trade.
This study conceptualizes the structure through which the outcomes of successive negotiations are accumulated into industry-wide standards, beyond one-off negotiations by individual firms, as a “collective and iterative coordination mechanism,” and analyzes its major bargaining phases. The analysis finds that standard terms of trade under this regime were formed and renewed through four major phases: television (1953 and 1960), the differentiation of secondary distribution markets (1988), the internet (2007–2008), and streaming and artificial intelligence (2023). Each phase represents a process through which newly emerging arenas for the exploitation of content IP, created by technological change, were incorporated into the scope of standardized transaction terms.
An inductive analysis of these developments identifies four elements that have sustained the continuous renewal of standard terms of trade: (1) the institutionalization of renewal procedures through built-in expiration and renegotiation; (2) modularity that enables the incorporation of new modes of use; (3) the bilateral nature of adjustment, which keeps both parties at the bargaining table; and (4) extensibility that allows the scope of standardization to be flexibly adjusted.
콘텐츠 IP의 효과적인 활용을 위하여서는 이용유형별로 반복 적용되는 조건과 산식, 이른바 ‘표준거래조건’을 형성하는 것이 중요하다. 표준으로 여겨지는 거래조건이 존재하여야 권리처리의 불확실성이 낮아져 IP의 활용이 촉진되고 그 결과로 활용의 성과가 분배되는 선순환이 성립하는 까닭이다.
콘텐츠 IP의 활용은 원천 콘텐츠가 새로운 매체와 이용유형으로 확장되는 사건이므로, 표준거래조건의 형성은 일회적으로 제정됨으로써 완결되지 않는다. 그러므로 표준거래조건의 실질은 매체 환경의 변화를 반영하는 지속적인 갱신이다. 이에 이 글은 매체 환경의 지속적인 변화 속에서 콘텐츠 IP의 표준거래조건이 어떻게 존속하는지 미국작가조합(WGA)과 영화·텔레비전제작자연합(AMPTP) 사이의 기본협약(MBA) 체제 70년을 통하여 분석하였다. 해당 협약은 디즈니, NBC유니버설, 파라마운트, 소니, 넷플릭스, 아마존, 애플, 워너브라더스 등 사실상 미국의 스튜디오 제작 시스템 전반을 구속하는 효력을 지니고 있으므로 표준거래조건의 분석 대상으로 삼기에 충분하다.
이 글은 개별 사업자의 일회적 협상을 넘어 협상의 결과를 업계의 표준거래조건으로 축적시키는 구조를 ‘집합적·반복적 조정 메커니즘’으로 개념화하고, 주요한 협상 국면을 분석하였다. 그 결과 이 체제의 표준거래조건은 텔레비전(1953·1960), 2차 유통시장의 분화(1988), 인터넷(2007~2008), 스트리밍·인공지능(2023)의 네 국면에서 형성·갱신되었으며, 각 국면은 신기술이 마련한 콘텐츠 IP 활용의 장을 표준거래조건의 범주로 편입시키는 과정이었다.
상기의 과정을 귀납적으로 분석한 바, 표준거래조건의 갱신을 지속한 메커니즘은 네 요소, 즉 ①만료와 재협상을 내재한 갱신 절차의 제도화, ②새로운 이용유형을 포섭하는 모듈성, ③협상 테이블을 존속시키는 조정의 양방향성, ④표준화 대상을 유연하게 조정하는 확장성으로 구성된다.
콘텐츠 IP의 활용은 원천 콘텐츠가 새로운 매체와 이용유형으로 확장되는 사건이므로, 표준거래조건의 형성은 일회적으로 제정됨으로써 완결되지 않는다. 그러므로 표준거래조건의 실질은 매체 환경의 변화를 반영하는 지속적인 갱신이다. 이에 이 글은 매체 환경의 지속적인 변화 속에서 콘텐츠 IP의 표준거래조건이 어떻게 존속하는지 미국작가조합(WGA)과 영화·텔레비전제작자연합(AMPTP) 사이의 기본협약(MBA) 체제 70년을 통하여 분석하였다. 해당 협약은 디즈니, NBC유니버설, 파라마운트, 소니, 넷플릭스, 아마존, 애플, 워너브라더스 등 사실상 미국의 스튜디오 제작 시스템 전반을 구속하는 효력을 지니고 있으므로 표준거래조건의 분석 대상으로 삼기에 충분하다.
이 글은 개별 사업자의 일회적 협상을 넘어 협상의 결과를 업계의 표준거래조건으로 축적시키는 구조를 ‘집합적·반복적 조정 메커니즘’으로 개념화하고, 주요한 협상 국면을 분석하였다. 그 결과 이 체제의 표준거래조건은 텔레비전(1953·1960), 2차 유통시장의 분화(1988), 인터넷(2007~2008), 스트리밍·인공지능(2023)의 네 국면에서 형성·갱신되었으며, 각 국면은 신기술이 마련한 콘텐츠 IP 활용의 장을 표준거래조건의 범주로 편입시키는 과정이었다.
상기의 과정을 귀납적으로 분석한 바, 표준거래조건의 갱신을 지속한 메커니즘은 네 요소, 즉 ①만료와 재협상을 내재한 갱신 절차의 제도화, ②새로운 이용유형을 포섭하는 모듈성, ③협상 테이블을 존속시키는 조정의 양방향성, ④표준화 대상을 유연하게 조정하는 확장성으로 구성된다.
- 김찬동·김민송·박다효·박한빈·박정훈·윤준균·유혜정·송선미, 『영상저작물 수익분배에 관한 해외법제 및 실태 연구』, 문화체육관광부, 2023.
- 이철남, 「미국 작가계약의 주요 쟁점에 관한 연구: 미국작가조합과 최소기본약정(MBA)을 중심으로」, 『과학기술과 법』 제6권(제2호), 충북대학교 법학연구소, 2015.
- 조병한, 「영상콘텐츠산업에서 콘텐츠 IP의 활용 연구」, 한양대학교 박사학위논문, 2026.
- Banks, Miranda J.,
The Writers: A History of American Screenwriters and Their Guild , Rutgers University Press, 2015. - Fortmueller, Kate, “Hollywood’s Creative Class,” in Kate Fortmueller & Luci Marzola eds.,
Hollywood Unions , Rutgers University Press, 2024. 10.36019/9781978830622 - Grossman, Sanford J. & Oliver D. Hart, “The Costs and Benefits of Ownership: A Theory of Vertical and Lateral Integration,”
Journal of Political Economy 94(4), The University of Chicago Press, 1986. 10.1086/261404 - Hart, Oliver & John Moore, “Property Rights and the Nature of the Firm,”
Journal of Political Economy 98(6), The University of Chicago Press, 1990. 10.1086/261729 - Littleton, Cynthia,
TV on Strike: Why Hollywood Went to War over the Internet , Syracuse University Press, 2013. - Macneil, Ian R., “Contracts: Adjustment of Long-Term Economic Relations under Classical, Neoclassical, and Relational Contract Law,”
Northwestern University Law Review 72(6), Northwestern University School of Law, 1978. - Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, https://www.amptp.org
- Writers Guild of America, “Become a Signatory”; “Creative Rights for Writers”; “Credits Survival Guide”; “History of WGA Contract Negotiations and Gains”; “Summary of the 2023 WGA MBA”; “Summary of the 2026 WGA MBA”; “Theatrical Credits Procedures Guide,” https://www.wga.org
- Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §§101, 201(b).
- Clayton Act §6, 15 U.S.C. §17.
- Clayton Act §20, 29 U.S.C. §52.
- Norris-LaGuardia Act, 29 U.S.C. §§101–115.
Brown v. Pro Football, Inc ., 518 U.S. 231 (1996).United States v. Hutcheson , 312 U.S. 219 (1941).- Writers Guild of America & Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers,
2008 WGA Theatrical and Television Basic Agreement and New Media Sideletters . - ______,
Memorandum of Agreement for the 2023 WGA Theatrical and Television Basic Agreement . - ______,
Memorandum of Agreement for the 2026 WGA Theatrical and Television Basic Agreement . - Writers Guild of America,
2023 Theatrical and Television Schedule of Minimums . - “WGA Ratifies 2026 Minimum Basic Agreement with AMPTP”,
Writers Guild of America , 2026.4.24. https://www.wga.org/news-events/news/press/wga-ratifies-2026-minimum-basic-agreement-with-amptp
- Publisher :Research Institute of Creative Contents
- Publisher(Ko) :글로컬문화전략연구소
- Journal Title :The Journal of Culture Contents
- Journal Title(Ko) :문화콘텐츠연구
- Volume : 37
- Pages :359~389
- DOI :https://doi.org/10.34227/tjocc.2026..37.359
The Journal of Culture Contents
