The California Senate has approved a bill designed to protect performers from unauthorized digital replicas. AB 2602 would require explicit consent for using a “digital replica” of a performer, mirroring language in the SAG-AFTRA contract that concluded last year’s four-month strike against the film and TV studios. The legislation extends protections to include other types of performances, such as video games, audiobooks, and commercials, and would also apply to non-union work.
Jeffrey Bennett, general counsel for the US performer union SAG-AFTRA, said, “We don’t want to see the next generation of performers lose all rights to voice and likeness because they don’t have any leverage or ability to effectuate fair terms.
The Motion Picture Association (MPA), representing major studios, initially opposed the bill, arguing it would interfere with standard post-production techniques. However, after legislators adjusted some of the language, the MPA adopted a neutral stance. The Assembly had overwhelmingly approved the bill in May with a vote of 62-0, and it passed the Senate 36-1.
Because of amendments made in the Senate, the bill will return to the Assembly for concurrence. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the executive director of SAG-AFTRA, hailed the bill as “a huge step forward.” He emphasized that in an age of digital replication, strong guardrails around licensing are essential to protect from abuse.
Protecting performers from digital replicas
Concerns about sweeping language in many performance contracts that grant expansive rights to use an actor’s likeness prompted the union to propose the legislation. Clever lawyers might interpret some contracts as granting the right to use AI to create other performances, potentially putting an actor in competition with their own likeness. The bill mandates that rights to an AI replica must be explicitly bargained for, and the contract must include a “reasonably specific” description of its eventual use.
Contracts lacking such explicit language would be unenforceable. Due to stalled negotiations over AI provisions, SAG-AFTRA is also striking against major video game companies. Additionally, the union supports federal legislation, the “No Fakes Act,” which would make it illegal to create a digital replica of anyone without their consent.
Initially, there were concerns that such laws might violate the First Amendment by prohibiting the use of historical figures in docudramas, but after revisions, the MPA supported the act. SAG-AFTRA is lobbying for another bill, AB 1836, to protect deceased performers’ digital replicas. The MPA has adopted a neutral position on this bill as well.
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