While individual creative workers have hardly any power, collectively they can demand more.

Melvin Nimmer, who later wrote the “book” on copyright, was first in-house counsel for the Writers Guild of America. He was responsible for the ideas behind the Guild's negotiation of separated rights and residuals in its 1960 agreement. The 1960 agreement incorporated his view of the divisibility of copyright into a “bundle” of rights, each of which could be separately bought and sold. In the Guild agreement he negotiated, specific rights from this "bundle" were "separated" and "reserved" for qualifying writers. Thus "residual" payments were born, with 1960 serving as a cut-off date. To finesse the divisibility of copyright issue, Nimmer allowed the studio to be the "owner" of the complete copyright, but it was required to hold "in trust" those rights reserved to the writer entitled to separated rights. Later, other rights were added, and as to some, the writer was given the right to reacquire rights after a specified period. See Grace Reiner, Separation of Rights for Screen and Television Writers, 24 Los Angeles Lawyer 28-33 (April 2001).

In representing the Guild, and other unions in the entertainment industry, I've used the argument that the producer's copyright "reverts" to the original creators if they breach the contract by not paying residuals or other payments due. We always settled, so I never got to test my theory in court. But I think it is a viable argument under existing law for a type of "reversion" of copyright.