When America sneezes, Britain gets a cold?

The Hollywood writer’s strike appears to be coming to an end and after three months of debates over how much writers should receive from material accessed over the Internet, I have to ask; how much did the strike really affect the UK entertainment business?

I half-expected the strike to have a hugely negative impact on the UK, leaving us to watch repetitive soaps like Coronation Street and Eastenders rather than looking forward to exciting dramas such as Prison Break and Lost, especially with the mantra that "When America sneezes, Britain gets a cold".

But in fact the opposite appears to be true. The Baftas out-shone the Oscars this year, and British cinema consequently received substantial attention, and deserving recognition. Plus, we’ve got used to waiting around for American films and sitcoms to reach us over seas, and so we’ve managed to become quite patient in that respect.

So now that the strike is coming to end, will UK entertainment once again be pushed backstage? Probably not.

It seems to me that Britain grabbed this opportunity to out-do the States while it had the chance, resulting in anyone who’s interested in the entertainment business being forced to take notice of our small, stubborn country.

Times' Film Critic James Christopher objects to this viewpoint, arguing that just because British film "Atonement" didn't receive as many awards as it was nominated for, and especially as Keira Knightley lost out on the Best Actress award to French actress Marion Cotillard, the Baftas turned out to be a "wasted opportunity" for British cinema.

But still, the Baftas did create a lot media attention and speculation towards British entertainment, and now that it has been placed on the map as a worthwhile competitor for academic acclaim, I’ve got a strong suspicion that it’s going to put up a fight to stay there!

But the issue still remains that people are more commonly accessing material over the Internet, free of charge. And while the Hollywood writer’s debate may shortly be resolved, it may only be a matter of time before other entertainment distributors feel resentment towards this issue.

Many companies use the Internet as a means for advertising themselves to consumers, such as the BBC’s iPlayer. But the BBC makes no additional profit from this, so why put so much money and energy into creating it?

There are advantages to users of course, in that they can access material where and when it suits them, but this could eventually backfire if companies decide to take a stance and refuse to provide their services for free in the future.