Pay the Writer!

Harlan Ellison, Science Fiction writer (original writer for The Outer Limits and Star Trek), has always been outspoken. Before becoming a "paid" writer, he held jobs as, by his account: "tuna fisherman, itinerant crop-picker, hired gun for a wealthy neurotic, dynamite truck driver, short order cook, cab driver, book salesman, floorwalker in a department store, and door to door brush salesman".
Some aspects of the story for The Terminator were sufficiently similar to two episodes ("Soldier" and "Demon with a Glass Hand") of the TV series The Outer Limits — both written by Ellison — that Ellison sued James Cameron. Ellison settled for several hundred thousand dollars, and the film's credits now include the simple statement: "Acknowledgment to the works of Harlan Ellison."
He is a fascinating man, and so --

Click on his photo above for his short rant on why writers should be paid, which includes the charming line "I don't take a piss without getting paid for it..."