Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed two bills that strengthen protections for actors' digital publicity rights, addressing concerns raised during last year's Hollywood walkouts led by actors union SAG-AFTRA.
One of the bills, AB 1836, would prohibit and impose penalties on the creation and distribution of digital replicas of deceased people without the permission of their estate. The other, AB 2602, would make contracts entered into after January 1, 2025 unenforceable if a digital replica of an actor was used when the person could have performed the work in person, if the contract did not reasonably specify how the digital replica would be used, or if the actor was not represented by an attorney or union at the time the contract was entered into.
“No one should have to live in fear of becoming someone else's unpaid digital puppet,” Duncan Crabtree Ireland, national executive director and chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, said in a statement. “Governor Newsom has paved the way to protect people and their families from AI cloning without their true consent.”
Governor Newsom signed the bill on Tuesday at SAG-AFTRA headquarters in Los Angeles.
“We are making sure that no one hands over their name, image or likeness to unscrupulous people without the support of their representatives and union,” Newsom said in a video posted to SAG-AFTRA's Instagram account.
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher said the day was monumental because the AI ​​protections the union fought for last year were expanded into state law.
“AI poses a threat not only to performers in the entertainment industry, but to workers in every field and every industry,” Drescher said in a statement. “No technology should be introduced into society without great caution and careful consideration of its long-term impacts on humanity and the natural world.”
AI remains a hot topic in Hollywood, as many workers worry that rapidly advancing technology will eliminate their jobs, but proponents of the new technology say it will give creatives a powerful tool, allowing them to try out bold ideas without being constrained by budgets.
The new law is part of a slate of roughly 50 AI-related bills introduced in the state Legislature and comes as state political leaders seek to address public concerns about AI.
