Four decades ago, California enacted rules designed to protect Hollywood talent from the worst impulses in the entertainment industry.
40年前加州制定了法則用以保護藝人被不肖之雇主剝削。

The law, known as the California Talent Agency Act, requires actors, writers and other creatives to use agents not only to find work but to safeguard them from greedy studios and the casting couch.
加州藝人經紀法要求演員、作家和其他藝人雇用經紀人，目的不僅是為渠等招攬、洽談工作機會及議約，同時係為保護渠等免於被不肖業者剝削，並可擔任藝人導師之角色，予以協助。

Now that law, which has been on the books since 1978 — and whose roots date back even further to the dawn of Hollywood — is the subject of intense debate as TV and movie writers wage a fierce war against their agents.

Members of the Writers Guild of America are in the process of firing their agents, the latest step in an ongoing dispute over agency practices that the guild believes have allowed agents to prosper while neglecting clients’ needs. Thousands of members have cut ties with their agents after talks broke down this month, including such prominent scribes as “Lost” writer Damon Lindelof and the playwright and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Tony Kushner.

The practices in question include packaging — a long-standing custom in which agencies receive payment and sometimes profit participation when they bring talent together for a TV show or movie — and an aggressive move into the production field, making them potential employers of the talent they represent.