SAG-AFTRA Releases Summary of Agreement, Including Details on AI Protections
SAG-AFTRA has publicly released its agreement with the AMPTP, which went into effect on November 9, the day the guild’s strike ended, and will run until June 30, 2026. The agreement outlines protections against artificial intelligence, new structures for residuals and more.
One of the most noteworthy parts of this new agreement is its protections on AI. Now performers whose digital replicas are used must be compensated with the “performer’s pro rata daily rate or the minimum rate, whichever is higher” and must be compensated for the number of days that a project’s producer determines the performer would have needed to work if those scenes were filmed in person. Additionally, the contract notes that the producer must make a “good faith effort” to estimate this number of days.
This expanded compensation structure in relation to AI also applies to residuals. Moving forward, performers who fall under the category of employment-based digital replication will earn residual compensation on their work whether their performance was in person or their digital replica was used.
Background actors will also receive greater compensation. Time spent creating a digital replica is now classified as work and will be paid accordingly. Now when a background actor is called in only for replication, they will be paid “for a full day.” If that replica is used as a principal character “the actor gets paid a principal’s
rate for the estimated days they would have worked.”
The guild also released two infographics breaking down this new AI agreement:
Read the summary in full here.
On Friday, SAG-AFTRA’s national board approved the tentative agreement with an 86% approval vote. The ratification vote will begin on Tuesday of this week and will continue through the first week of December. This new deal includes a fund that will be based on steaming residuals and will be operated by trustees from both SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP studios as well as higher minimum increases than either the DGA or WGA received in addition to these aforementioned AI protections.
“We are exceedingly grateful for all the support from the entertainment unions throughout the strike. This victory is for all of us,” SAG-AFTRA leader Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said during a press conference on Friday. “While the gains in these new contracts will keep the entertainment industry sustainable for working class performers, they serve as an example of what can be accomplished through collective action and solidarity.”
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