The Errant Æsthete

Much has been written on the writer’s strike over the past several days, everything from whether writers will have the resolve to see this thing through to comments from former captains of industry, like Michael Eisner insisting there is no economic “there there” for writers to gain. But this headline in boingboing today puts the real prize in perspective: Daily Show writer explains writers’ strike — if digital content isn’t worth anything, how come Viacom is suing YouTube for $1 billion?

In this youtube, Daily Show writer Jason Rothman delivers a hilarious monologue about the Writers’ Guild strike against the studios, who claim they can’t compensate writers for digital media because no one can calculate how much these properties are worth. The clip delivers a Daily Show-style montage of coverage from the $1 billion+ Viacom lawsuit against YouTube, including clips of Viacom’s CEO talking about how digital content is worth tons of money and getting paid is the name of the game. The clip includes a nice guest appearance from Daily Show correspondents too. Link