SAG SUPPORTS SHUT-DOWN OF FAN SITES

The Screen Actors Guild is backing efforts by Fox-TV to close down Internet fan sites devoted to its programs. Appearing on CNN's Showbiz Today on Friday, Leonard Classman, SAG's executive director, said, "The studios have an obligation to negotiate with our members individually if their images and performances are going to be used in anything other than the film that they were originally employed in, and they're subjected to severe damages. And I applaud Fox for taking the action that they did." Appearing on the same program, Fox-TV president Doug Herzog noted that the fan sites are using "trademarks and characters that are owned by somebody else, so, you know, it's not exactly all kosher." But TV Guide's Mark Schwed commented on the same program: "If they stop these fan sites, they're shooting themselves in the foot because these are the fans." And Gina Smith, whose was one of the sites singled out by Fox, added: "By shutting these sites down Fox is alienating the fans and the viewers."