The first time director Ruben Fleischer realized his promo for UK dancehall artist M.I.A. was being offered as a digital download in the iTunes music store was during our phone interview for this piece. Over the last few years, the Los Angeles native has put his name on around 20 videos, but he's grown so disenchanted with the state of the industry that he's pledged not to make another clip until something changes, and right now, that thing is staring back at him from his computer. There, filed under the hip-hop section in the newly erected video downloads portion of the iTunes store, is his clip for M.I.A.'s "Galang", available to anyone for the standard rate of $1.99.

In support of the launch of its vaunted video iPod back in October, Apple unveiled a raft of purchase-only video content that included episodes of Lost, Desperate Housewives, and an initial menu of 2,000 music videos. In the two months since, that number has blossomed to over 3,000 and continues to grow on an almost daily basis. Fleischer's video is part of the catalogue, as are offerings from Spike Jonze, Mark Romanek, Dave Meyers and Sophie Muller. But neither the upstart director nor any of the others are likely to ever see a penny from the sales generated from their back catalogue. And while big name directors have already begun building iTunes profit participation schemes into future promo contracts, the overwhelming majority of existing directors lack the leverage and the resources to strike similar deals of their own.

The issue marks the tipping point for directors already beseiged by dwindling promo budgets, a lack of benefits and questionable label practices. Technically the property of the record label, the music video has traditionally been considered a promotional tool by all parties involved. But if the increased label practice of packaging CDs with videos on bonus DVDs has thrown that definition into question, the iTunes venture has blown it to smithereens. "It's no longer a promotional item," says Fleischer. "It's a commodity. It's content... when you make a movie or a television show, you have residuals and share in the money [it] generates - that's not being allowed for at present."

Fleischer isn't pushing for royalties on promos made pre-iPod video, but, like many of his contemporaries, he is wondering what the future holds. His hope might be best laid in the hands of a collective called the Music Video Directors Alliance. The Alliance, an anonymous group comprising "directors working in the music video business", many of them among the industry's heaviest hitters, has begun to mobilize at mvdga.org. There, along with anonymous comments from over 350 reputed directors, is a petition requesting that Directors Guild of America head Michael Apted take specific steps to "explore ways to represent the interests" of video directors.

The MVDA contends that by admitting music video directors as members, the DGA could not only help ensure a fair profit participation model but atone for directors' longstanding lack of benefits. "Pension, welfare and health insurance are rights that most of the crew on a music video set have already in place," the MVDA wrote in an email to Boards. "Directors should have had these benefits a long time ago. It is an indictment of the production companies, most of whom are DGA signatories through the Commercial Agreement, that the directors they manage and profit from have been unrepresented for so long."

John Hassay, the head of UK promo house Colonel Blimp, says the industry has changed so much it's now just as vital that production houses share in these new revenue streams. "The previous industry model was that you got a one-off payment, but that payment was reasonable enough that you could cover your costs and make money and still be in a position where you could afford to not win a pitch," he says. "At the moment, [labels] are getting 20 to 25 treatments per record - how can you build a business on the basis of competing with 25 people to win a project? The challenge for prodcos at the moment is that 15% of fuck-all isn't enough to cover your costs. If you have a bad run - i.e. you come second in a lot of pitches - you can be out of business very quickly."

While no one is positive on the specifics of how revenues from current iTunes video sales are parceled out (a representative from Apple declined to comment for this story), the company has acknowledged in an official press release that it took only 20 days to reach the one million mark in music video sales. An analyst for American Technology Research estimates that figure has more than doubled in the month since, putting the gross revenue generated by 2,000-3,000 videos over the $4-million threshold in just over two months. That staggering figure is why the MVDA says the onus is on directors to be proactive. "The only alternative outcome would be if the record companies decided to preempt this proposal to the DGA and come to the table with a viable structure that recognizes directors' creative rights," they wrote. "This seems unlikely."

Will the DGA involve itself in the perceived wild, wild west of the music video industry? Fleischer himself approached Apted about the possibility a few months back, and says the response wasn't encouraging. "It's not their world, there are so many different levels of songs - what do you do with an indie label that has a $5,000 budget?" he says. "It's an imposition if you have to pay down dues and do all this other shit, and there's a lot of paperwork, and do they really want 3,000 new members that are going to require pensions and health care? Probably not. But if they don't do it, I don't know who will."