Probably… The Writers Guild of America and Hollywood’s producers have reached a tentative agreement. These are the details that have emerged (from the Hollywood Reporter):

“– An increase in minimum rates of 3.5% each year. Exceptions include network primetime rates and daytime serial script fees, which will increase 3% per year. Program fees and upset price increase once by 3% in the second year; and clip fees increase once by 5% in the third year.

– Made-for pay TV residuals: An annual residual payments’ increase from $3,000 to $3,500 for a half-hour program and from $5,000 to $6,000 for an hourlong program.

– Residuals of 1.2% of distributor’s gross receipts for download rentals where the viewer pays for limited new media access.

– Residuals for ad-supported streaming of feature films produced after July 1, 1971, payable at 1.2% of distributor’s gross receipts.

– Television ad-supported streaming (library) for programs produced after 1977, payable at 2% of distributors’ gross receipts.

– For download sales (electronic sell-through) where the viewer pays for permanent use of a program, residuals are to be paid at 0.36% of distributor’s gross receipts for the first 100,000 downloads of a television program and the first 50,000 downloads of a feature. After that, residuals are paid at 0.7% of distributor’s gross receipts for television programs and 0.65% for feature films.

– Ad-supported streaming of television programs payable at 2% of distributors’ gross receipts one year from the end of an initial streaming window.

– Residual payments for network primetime where in the first and second years of a contract, after the initial window, for network primetime television programs, a fixed residual of 3% of the residual base (“applicable minimum”) will be paid for each of up to two 26-week periods. The agreement also calls for in the third year of this contract that 2% of the distributor’s gross formula is applied immediately after the initial streaming window.

– Residual payment (all other programs): After the initial streaming window, a fixed residual of 3% of the residual base (the “applicable minimum”) is paid for each of up to two 26-week periods in the first two years of this contract. In the third year of this contract, the payment rate rises to 3.5% of the residual base.

– The agreement also covered a definition for fair-market value on new-media residuals; access to information, clips and promotions; and health and pension fund rates.”

So far not many reactions have emerged – the WGA members are still contemplating and need to vote on this deal. If it is accepted, they will be back at work by Monday.

Jonathan Handel, who is a regular blogger in the Huffington Post, states there that “It’s a mixed deal but far better than the writers would have been able to get three months ago. The strike was a qualified success”.

WGA West and East presidents Patric Verrone and Michael Winship told members that it was “an agreement that protects a future in which the internet becomes the primary means of both content creation and delivery (…) It creates formulas for revenue-based residuals in new media, provides access to deals and financial data to help us evaluate and enforce those formulas, and establishes the principle that, ‘When they get paid, we get paid’.”

As far as I can tell from these details I agree – the deal certainly shows that Hollywood accknowledges that more and more eyeballs are wandering off to online video, and that people have to be compensated in the light of this shifting viewing behaviour.