The Writers Guild of America, west (WGAw) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have reached a landmark agreement with Touchstone Television covering the writing of mobisodes for ABC's television series Lost, creating a framework for future industry mobile-content and other new technology agreements.

The agreement was reached after WGA members working on Lost insisted that proposed mobisodes be guild-covered. Their stance was supported by members of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA), and the three talent guilds coordinated negotiations with Touchstone. While the agreement covers mobisodes the network had ordered to supplement the Lost series, the new deal provides a flexible template for future negotiations, when the Companies and content creators address issues related to emerging technological platforms.

“This deal could not have been reached without the courage of our members who stood together and insisted that this work be guild-covered. As emerging technologies revolutionize the entertainment landscape, our members have been proactive to help define this bold new world,” said WGAw President Patric M. Verrone. “As a result of the solidarity of the WGA, SAG, and DGA, no guild was forced to take a lesser deal.”
 
The WGA agreement achieves the guilds' goals of coverage of this writing, providing minimums, residuals, pension and health benefits, and writing credit provisions. Use on cell phones after 13 weeks triggers a residual similar to the pay television residual in the guild's MBA of 1.2% of the license fee for such use. If the mobisode is distributed via the Internet the same residual of 1.2% of the distributor's share is payable if the viewer pays to access the mobisode; a 2.0% residual is payable if the Internet use is ad-supported.

The Writers Guild of America, west and the Writers Guild of America, East represent writers in the motion picture, broadcast, cable, and new media industries in both entertainment and news. The unions conduct numerous programs, seminars, and events throughout the world on issues of interest to, and on behalf of, writers.