Lee Stranahan comments on the Lucasfilm/Pixar collusion case:
For the VFX artists who were still holding on to the idea that they were working in a free market where they were plying their trade… not so much, really. These two digital animation powerhouses worked together to keep wages down and opportunities limited for the artists.
More at the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-stranahan/lucasfilm-and-pixar-consp_b_801432.html
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I think if he was going to mention any union by name he should have mentioned the ones interested in representing us. Like IBEW, not just IATSE. Have they even had a meeting yet?
The IBEW and the IATSE have seemed to both have differing strategies. The IBEW is holding meetings asking anyone to attend while the IA is targeting various facilities and meeting with small groups of interested artists there.
The truth is no matter how interested any union is in representing us the artists have to respond.
Why is it this Stranahan guy comes off as trying to use an important issue to vfx artists to promote his own agenda?
Could you elaborate?
Totally agree on this. Stranahan is trying to get his name out there, not champion a cause. He was a failure in the CG industry but now he’s trying to get his name into people’s minds, no doubt so that he can rip them off for shitloads more cash than he did in the great LightWave tour that never happened as it was supposed to. Yeah, I don’t recall him championing that cause at the time. I do have to lol pretty hard at the way he teaches a course on “how to be successful in the VFX industry” when he’s never been successful himself. He’s a hack who is trying to pretend he isn’t. I can’t believe people waste time reading his lameass blog.
one question that i have about this trial/investigation…has anything actually been proven or someone been found guilty or is all this just government assumptions so far!?
Chris
You can read the official word here:
http://www.justice.gov/atr/cases/lucasfilm.html
No dispute about the facts of the matter as far as i can tell. All that’s left to do is for some affected artist(s) to file a lawsuit to recover damages from the illegal activity by Lucasfilm and Pixar. I would be surprised if a class-action lawsuit was not filed. The artist wages left on the table through this collusion should be in the tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. My guess is that Lucasfilm agreed to settle with the DOJ because (1) there was undeniable proof of their collusion and (2) company officials were personally facing substantial fines and jail time.
Quite frankly, is there any doubt that if these were insurance companies, or oil companies, or banks, etc. that more people would be calling for prison time?
FYI:
http://www.justice.gov/atr/cases/f265300/265397.htm
V. REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO POTENTIAL PRIVATE LITIGANTS
Section 4 of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 15, provides that any person who has been injured as a result of conduct prohibited by the antitrust laws may bring suit in federal court to recover three times the damages the person has suffered, as well as costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees. Entry of the proposed Final Judgment will neither impair nor assist the bringing of any private antitrust damage action. Under the provisions of Section 5(a) of the Clayton Act, 15 U.S.C. § 16(a), the proposed Final Judgment has no prima facie effect in any subsequent private lawsuit that may be brought against Lucasfilm.
VII. ALTERNATIVES TO THE PROPOSED FINAL JUDGMENT
The United States considered, as an alternative to the proposed Final Judgment, a full trial on the merits against Lucasfilm. The United States is satisfied, however, that the relief contained in the proposed Final Judgment will quickly establish, preserve, and ensure that employees can benefit from competition between Lucasfilm and others. Thus, the proposed Final Judgment would achieve all or substantially all of the relief the United States would have obtained through litigation, but avoids the time, expense, and uncertainty of a full trial on the merits of the Complaint.
thanks for the clarification!
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