## Facts

- Universal City Studios, Inc. (Universal) entered into a writing contract with Elliott Baker.
- Baker’s contract required him to prepare a bible and a teleplay for the television miniseries “Kentucky Derby.”
- The writing contract was subject to the Writers Guild of America (WGA) Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA).
- Baker was a citizen of the United States but a resident of Great Britain.
- During the term of the contract, Baker neither lived in nor maintained a residence in the United States.
- Baker spent a total of 75 days working on “Kentucky Derby.”
- Baker performed writing services in the United States for 30 of those days.
- Baker performed the remainder of his writing services in Great Britain.
- Universal did not make pension and health-fund contributions for Baker that the WGA contended were required by the MBA.
- Writers Guild of America West, Inc. (WGAW) initiated an MBA arbitration on Baker’s behalf against Universal.
- The dispute centered on whether Baker’s writing services fell within the MBA’s geographical jurisdiction such that pension and health-fund contributions were due.

## Issues

1. Whether Baker’s writing services—performed partly in the United States and partly in Great Britain while he resided in Great Britain—fell within the MBA’s geographical jurisdiction for purposes of pension and health-fund contributions.
2. If the MBA applied, whether Universal was required to make pension and health-fund contributions on Baker’s behalf based on the work performed under the “Kentucky Derby” writing contract.

## Decision

- The matter proceeded as an arbitration under the WGA Minimum Basic Agreement between WGAW and Universal, designated Case No. 87-CO-264 (1988).
- Publicly available materials identify the parties, the contract, the split between U.S. and Great Britain workdays, and the question of MBA geographical jurisdiction.
- Publicly available materials do not disclose the arbitrator’s final determination, reasoning, or remedy concerning whether contributions were owed (and, if so, on what portion of the services or compensation).

## Legal Principles

- A writing contract made subject to the WGA Minimum Basic Agreement can create a duty for a signatory company to make pension and health-fund contributions when the covered agreement applies to the services at issue.
- When writing services are performed in more than one country, a common threshold dispute is whether the services fall within the MBA’s geographical jurisdiction.
- A writer’s citizenship, residence, and the physical locations where services were performed may all be relevant facts in a geographical-jurisdiction dispute under a collectively bargained agreement.
- A union may bring an MBA arbitration on behalf of a writer to seek enforcement of benefit-fund contribution obligations the union claims the agreement imposes.

## Conclusion

This 1988 MBA arbitration arose from Universal’s writing contract with Elliott Baker for the “Kentucky Derby” miniseries bible and teleplay. Baker, a U.S. citizen residing in Great Britain who did not maintain a U.S. residence during the contract term, worked 75 days on the project, performing 30 days of writing services in the United States and the remainder in Great Britain. After Universal did not make pension and health-fund contributions that WGAW asserted were required under the MBA, WGAW filed an arbitration on Baker’s behalf. The central dispute was whether Baker’s mixed-location writing services fell within the MBA’s geographical jurisdiction so that contributions were due; however, the arbitrator’s ultimate ruling is not reflected in the publicly available summary information.


In the Matter of Arbitration Between Writers Guild of America West, Inc. and Universal City Studios, Inc. – Relating to “Kentucky Derby”, Case No. 87-CO-264 (1988)