Bottom-Of-The-Barrel Pricing

I imagine a few of you guys have thoughts about this:

It's a dream tucked in the backs of many journalists' minds: the article they write becomes a blockbuster movie and they reap a healthy share of the profits, a walk on the red carpet and — who knows? — maybe even an Oscar.

At Condé Nast magazines like Wired, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, that wish has become reality for a small but steady number of writers. Condé Nast articles led to the movie "Argo," which so far has generated $166 million in worldwide box-office sales, "Eat Pray Love," which made $204 million in global sales and "Brokeback Mountain," which brought in $178 million.

But now, Condé Nast, whose magazines are battling a punishing business environment, wants to capture more of the film and television profits, which previously went to writers who owned the rights to these works. The new contracts have angered writers and their agents who argue that it's another cut at their already rapidly shrinking compensation.