New AI Laws in California
Artificial intelligence (AI) was one of the biggest issues over which SAG-AFTRA struck a year ago. The fear was that, given the opportunity, studios would turn to the format to replace actors in films and on TV. Well, actors can now rejoice, because not only does the new union agreement prevent studios from doing that, as of Tuesday, it is no longer legal in the state of California.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed a pair of bills to extend the SAG-AFTRA protections against AI into law. “We continue to wade through uncharted territory when it comes to how AI and digital media is transforming the entertainment industry, but our North Star has always been to protect workers,” said Newsom from the SAG-AFTRA headquarters, where he signed the bills. “This legislation ensures the industry can continue thriving while strengthening protections for workers and how their likeness can or cannot be used.”
The first bill, AB 1836, “prohibits the use of a deceased person’s voice or likeness in digital replicas without the prior consent of their estate,” while the second, AB 2602, “prohibits contractual provisions that would allow for the use of a digital replica of an individual’s voice or likeness in place of the individual’s actual services.” The latter contains a proviso that would allow it if an individual gave their consent to a clear, specific description of how the AI would be used.
What does this mean for performers? It’s pretty straightforward. California law now prohibits any studio or producer from using AI to duplicate any person’s likeness, be they alive or dead, without consent. Before the law was signed, though SAG-AFTRA and the studios had agreed that this couldn’t be allowed, a non-union production might technically have had a way around that. If it wasn’t a union job, then conceivably, it wasn’t beholden to union agreements and rules.
No longer. At least, not in California.
“It is a momentous day for SAG-AFTRA members and everyone else,” said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, “because the AI protections we fought so hard for last year are now expanded upon by California law thanks to the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom. They say as California goes, so goes the nation!”
While the first bill, protecting the likeness of deceased artists, addressed some exceptions that were previously in place for projects in regard to digital replicas. The second bill, however, is the first of its kind in the nation. Other labor unions are actively pushing for similar protections on the federal level, with the recent introduction in Congress of the Nurture Originals, Foster Art and Keep Entertainment Safe (or NO FAKES) Act. That bill “establishes a federal right in voice and likeness to protect against unauthorized use of digital replicas in audiovisual works and sound recordings, effectively balancing that right with strong First Amendment protections for content creators,” according to the SAG-AFTRA website.
Ultimately, both laws are extensions of the victories SAG-AFTRA fought for and won last year with the strike, that actors must have informed consent and compensation for anything that involves AI. There is also thinking that this will have an impact in the ongoing conversations between SAG-AFTRA and the video game industry, since AI is the key issue in the negotiations.
The long and short of it is, this is a big deal, and a huge win for performers.
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