The Writers Guild is giving the Grammys a pass. The board of directors of the striking writers union agreed yesterday to grant an interim agreement for this year's Grammy Awards, allowing for material written for the show to be covered under a Guild contract. Writers Guild of America West president Patric Verrone said, "Professional musicians face many of the same issues that we do concerning fair compensation for the use of their work in new media. In the interest of advancing our goal of achieving a fair contract, the board felt that this decision should be made on behalf of our brothers and sisters in the American Federation of Musicians and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists."In response, Recording Academy president Neil Portnow said, "The Recording Academy is gratified by the W-G-A's decision to grant the interim agreement we requested for our milestone 50th annual Grammy Awards." The Grammy Awards will be held February 10th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and broadcast nationally by C-B-S.
