#sag aftra contract

[gael-garcia]

SAG-AFTRA deal on AI is looking terrible, actually 😬

#SAG Actors, I want to make you aware of some of the language in the #AI portion of the tentative SAG agreement.

Though SAG leadership made much effort to protect members in AI, there are many issues you should look at. I have saved the most serious issue for the end. 1/

If a “digital double” is made of you during a film, they must get your consent and inform you of their intentions for its use, EXCEPT "when the photography or sound track remains substantially as scripted, performed and/or recorded.”2/

This is going to be left up to the studios/streamers’ interpretation. And so, any subtlety regarding how you chose to look or move for the character during the shoot could potentially be changed. Your hair, your clothes, your make-up, etc. 3/

Also, your physical placement in a scene can be changed, like your nearness or distance from another character, or even moving you from the front seat of a car "to the back seat of the car." This suggests not much agency on your part to control your character or performance. 4/

Under “(Digital Double) Use Other Than in the Motion Picture for Which the Performer Was Employed,” it says that "No additional compensation shall be required for use of an Employment-Based Digital Replica that was created in connection with employment of a performer who was… 5/

… employed under Schedule F.” It appears that if you were paid Schedule F for the first film, you don’t get paid for the sequels, where they’re just using your digital double instead of you. I suggest members get sharp clarity on this. 6/

If a “digital double” was made of you in a separate manner (on another film or privately made by you), it's referred to as an “independently created digital replica” (ICDR). There is no minimum compensation listed for studios/streamers to use an ICDR of you in… 7/

… any film they want; only consent. You will apparently need to negotiate any compensation on your own. 8/

Neither consent nor compensation is necessary to use your “digital double” if the project is "comment, criticism, scholarship, satire or parody, a docudrama, or historical or biographical work.” So, you could find yourself in a project you never consented to… 9/

…doing things you never were informed of, for no compensation at all. This is the “First Amendment” argument the #GAI tech companies are fond of trotting out. 10/

Another consent exemption is granted to "adjusting lip and/or other facial or body movement and/or the voice of the performer to a foreign language, or for purposes of changes to dialogue or photography necessary for license or sale to a particular market. 11/

The substitution of swear words is not new, but that your “body movements” would be changed suggests you’ll be used like a type of rag doll in post-production. 12/

There are still a few concerns with the Background Performers’ details, but there’s one that stands out as especially sad. "If the Producer uses a background actor’s Background Actor Digital Replica in the role of a principal performer, the background actor shall be paid… 13/

…the minimum rate for a performer… had (they) performed those scene(s) in person.” So, if an extra is “bumped up” to a principal cast member, they never get to experience that position on a set. But you get a check after the fact. 14/

And the most serious issue of them all is the inclusion in the agreement of “Synthetic Performers,” or “AI Objects,” resembling humans. This gives the studios/streamers a green-light to use human-looking AI Objects instead of hiring a human actor. 15/

It’s one thing to use GAI to make a King Kong or a flying serpent (though this displaces many VFX/CGI artists), it is another thing to have an AI Object play a human character instead of a real actor. To me, this inclusion is an anathema to a union contract at all. 16/

This is akin to SAG giving a thumbs-up for studios/streamers using non-union actors. This would be like the @Teamsters putting in their contract that it’s A-OK for the employer to utilize self-driving trucks instead of them. 17/

@Teamsters I find it baffling that a union representing human actors would give approval of those same actors being replaced by an AI Object. And don’t forget, those AI Objects are a mash-up of all actors' past performances, adding insult to injury. 18/

@Teamsters Bottomline, we are in for a very unpleasant era for actors and crew. The use of “digital doubles” alone will reduce the number of available jobs, because bigger name actors will have the opportunity to double or triple-book themselves on multiple projects at once. 19/

@Teamsters The use of these “digital doubles” will most likely preclude the need of a set or the use of many @IATSE crew and @Teamster drivers. 20/

@Teamsters @IATSE @Teamster Audition odds will change. Winning an audition could become very difficult, because you will not just be competing with the available actors who are your type, but you will now compete with every actor, dead or alive, who has made their “digital double” available for rent … 21/

@Teamsters @IATSE @Teamster … in a range of ages to suit the character. You also will be in competition with an infinite number of AI Objects that the studios/streamers can freely use. And a whole cast of AI Objects instead of human actors eliminates the need for a set or any crew at all. 22/

@Teamsters @IATSE @Teamster You are a complex & remarkable human. Don’t let the CEOs convince you otherwise. Seek out filmmakers & showrunners who value your basic worth & committed to human workers on their projects. These are the ones who will make work that matters. We’re going to be OK. Just hold on. /

[aquitainequeen]

Alarm bells being rung by Maureen Johnson on AI and the Big Publishers

[dovesndecay]

Hey fellow workers and union men🐈‍⬛, SAG-AFTRA has released a series of short, plain-language explanations regarding the fight for AI protections in video games, and what they're fighting for.

Please share this widely for game performers, current and future, and make sure to support the union!

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Bob Iger saying all this while also being on basically billionaires vacation really should say something, holy shit.

[megamindfandombookclub]

On BlueSky social, Both Brett Simons (one of Megamind's writers) and @neil-gaiman (cause he's one of my favorites and I love him.) responded to my questions about how things were with the strike finally nearing completion with better pay and protections for the writers.

This is what they said.

How can you help?

Now negotiations are still being made and as of this moment, the contracts are not signed, but you can help them by donating to the causes, and/or spreading the word!

Solidarity friends!

[nthspecialll]

I stand with the SAG-AFTRA strike!

The livelihood of the actors who made our favourite video-games is at stake, and so is the soul and personality of the future master-pieces which they are supposed to create.

Companies are stealing the voice actor's voices and faces, making AI versions of them, slowly removing the "need" for the real deal. This is not just something that is a problem for the actors, but also for the consumers as a robot in no way will be able to replicate the emotions and the feelings we see in characters.

Some companies will completely have a disreguard to the health of their actors in the motion captures, asking them to repeat hard fighting scenes or stunts over and over again with little pay and without a medic on scene, though it is their job to make sure there is. It is tough work and they deserve to be able to make a living with conditions that are safe and humane.

The studios are refusing to acknowledge these amazing preformers as preformers.

Now what does that mean for us as players, fans and content creators? Not a lot, we are not being asked to stop playing or anything similar. Here is what their websides says for content creators and streamers:

"The only situation in which streaming a struck video game would be in violation of our strike order is if you had rendered services as a performer in that struck game. Otherwise, we are not asking you to stop playing/streaming video games. In fact the opposite! Please continue doing what you love, and any support and solidarity would be extremely appreciated!"

And as for fans they simply ask that we show our support by talking about the strike and making posts similar to these which can be found on their webside:

Video game performers deserve fair wages, safe working conditions and A.I. protections. I call on the employers to #LevelUpTheContract. #SagAftraStrong #VideoGameStrike

I support video game performers in their fight for A.I. protections and a fair contract. It's time for the employers to #LevelUpTheContract! #VideoGameStrike #SagAftraStrong

Video game companies must offer A.I. protections to ALL video game performers. Join me and show your support for those who bring our favorite games to life. #LevelUpTheContract #VideoGameStrike #SagAftraStrong

More information can be found on SAG AFTRA's webside or their social media platforms

[yusuke-of-valla]

So, Video Game Voice Actors Are On Strike: A Quick and Dirty Guide for Tumblr Users

Starting on July 26th, SAG-AFTRA members that are part of the Interactive Media Agreement (so mostly voice actors for video games) will be on strike. If you're a member of SAG-AFTRA with questions, I would speak to them.

Most of this information is coming from the SAG-AFTRA website, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about anything or ask if you need anything.

If you are a random tumblr user who wants to know what's going on, here we go.

Why are video game voice actors striking?

AI, as one could expect. From the union's statement:

Although agreements have been reached on many issues important to SAG-AFTRA members, the employers refuse to plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language, that they will protect all performers covered by this contract in their A.I. language.

Which Games Are Being Struck?

Games from: Activision Productions Inc., Blindlight LLC, Disney Character Voices Inc., Electronic Arts Productions Inc., Formosa Interactive LLC, Insomniac Games Inc., Llama Productions LLC, Take 2 Productions Inc., VoiceWorks Productions Inc., and WB Games Inc. are all being struck.

There is also a website to confirm which union projects are being struck but you'd need to be a member actively working on it to use it.

Ok so I'm not a voice actor, union or otherwise, I just like games. What should I do.

I can NOT stress this enough. Do NOT stop playing games. The union has not asked for this, and is instead asking for people to amplify our messages online using #LevelUpTheContract, #VideoGameStrike and #SagAftraStrong."

You can also sign this petition in support of voice actors getting a fair deal.

I'm not a union representative but if a game you're looking forward to is being covered by the struck companies, I'd blow up your social media and their mentions with how much you love the voice acting and the actors deserve a fair contract, but other than that you are not being asked to boycott any games or not cosplay or attend events.

A Streamer is playing a struck game! Is that crossing the picket line?

No, SAG-AFTRA explicitly says that is fine, and in fact encourages it.

An actor is promoting/promoted a struck work at SDCC, is that crossing the picket line?

No, the statement explicitly says those attending SDCC can still do work there because of the short notice, they are also fine.

Wait didn't SAG-AFTRA already do some weird bullshit regarding video game voice actors and AI?

Yes, at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, SAG-AFTRA signed a deal with Replica AI to allow their members to create digital replicas, it was a whole thing and many voice actors were pissed.

So they're hypocrites?

Ok it's more complicated than that. Their logic for the Replica AI thing is rather than allow companies to do whatever they want, it was better to have a system in place to be able to clearly say when a company was breaking the rules and ensure that talent got some compensation.

We can debate the efficacy of that strategy all day and voice actors at the time were not happy, BUT the companies being struck here refuse to even rise to THAT standard and will not agree to the most basic protections for actors, which is worse.

People and organizations contain multitudes and it is not a betrayal or hypocritical to disagree with SAG-AFTRA leadership on the Replica AI situation and side with them, and more importantly their members in this case.

Why aren't game devs striking/ It's not devs on strike so I don't care

The Screen Actors Guild covers actors, so it would not be in everyone's best interest if they were to try and negotiate on behalf of people in different fields with different needs.

However, one way to build support for the various movements to unionize at places like Activision-Blizzard and Bethesda is to support labor movements everywhere and show solidarity whenever it comes up.

Why are the actors striking when the developers should be paid more.

They should be paid more! And they should not be laid off as much. One way to help with that is to be able to point to voice actors and say, hey they got a raise, I want one too.

[unofficialdragonageday]

Keep video games people powered!

As we're returning to Thedas, we want to take a moment to remind everyone that the performers of SAG-AFTRA are currently striking against several video game companies to ensure better protections against A.I.

You can find more information here: https://www.sagaftra.org/contracts-industry-resources/contracts/interactive-media-video-game-strike

#LevelUpTheContract ✊🎮

[atthebell]

SAG-AFTRA performers have called a video game strike as of today!

The major issue is AI as labor exploitation, as the struck companies refuse to provide appropriate protections for AI usage of union members' performances.

SAG-AFTRA performers actually voted to authorize a strike back in September, but only recently did negotiations break down enough for the chief negotiator to call for a strike.

Also directly from the FAQ: content creators are NOT being asked to stop playing certain games, including struck games, and they can help support striking performers by talking about the strike and about how important they find video game performers to be. Same goes for any video game fans!

[moments-on-film]

Great news! The WGA and the AMPTP have reached a tentative agreement for a 3 year contract! More details about the agreement to come from the Guild, as it has yet to be signed and has additional rounds of approval before it is final and the strike order is lifted, but this is huge!

Major respect and congratulations to the WGA leadership, WGA negotiation committee, strike captains, and members of the WGA for standing firm in their strike and fighting for a fair contract. Major respect and congratulations to everyone impacted by this strike, including sister unions and to the allies and those who stood in solidarity!

The end of this month was the deadline in terms of setting up writer’s rooms to create seasons of TV for 2024, so this tentative agreement potentially came just in the nick of time.

Hopefully a fair contract for SAG-AFTRA is to follow.

Among many, many other things, this means that if The Bear season 3 is in fact renewed and a new series is ordered, if all goes well it could be back on air by next summer.

Photo source: WGA West

[thelaurenshippen]

okay, so, I tried to attend the virtual SAG meeting on saturday to ask some of my questions but it was literally full - I did not know that could happen virtually. but it's amazing, I love that the membership is SO galvanized.

that said, I have watched the in-person meetings for both LA and NY (both of which are, uh, 4 hours long thank god for 2x speed on youtube). the wonderful actors in attendance (including some real life pals!) asked all my questions and more. I took some notes on the SAG presentation (only the LA one - I didn't watch the NY presentation, just the Q&A) but I'm assuming it was larger the same) and the answers from the Q&A that I thought were particularly interesting.

I'm making a new post because my original post got so long, but I'm going to link this with a small summary in a reblog as well, because I think it's important to see how my thinking has shifted as I've gotten more information. (also, on that original post, I've seen some folks be like 'I'm not an actor or a sag member, but I think you should vote yes'...lovingly, please stop. share the post! share your thoughts! but please don't try to pressure a vote on a contract you have no material investment in).

anyway, let's get into it:

the presentation

nothing really revelatory here, but there were a few points that Duncan Crabtree-Ireland (the chief negotiator and a lawyer) brought up that I thought were really interesting:

if you wanted to make your own digital replica or have one made with a third party contract, you could then license that under the same consent rules as if the company did the scan. my brain immediately latched onto this because I think there is a lot of very interesting ramifications for someone making their own replica and then making an argument that the company needs to license that replica instead of scanning them. I don't think this is something that's really going to happen in a major way in this contract period but an actor having and controlling their own replica and making companies pay for it is genuinely very cool if I'm understanding it correctly.

he did mention that the dubbing issue with alteration was more about companies being able to hire an actor to dub in a foreign language and then alter the actor's mouth to match the dialogue, so presumably would not be a threat to dubbers. I don't know that the companies are required to hire a voice actor for this, but that was at least good to hear.

the whole thing about synthetic performers...Duncan really made some interesting points around this. in the Q&A, he basically echoed the point that I made in my original point that this doesn't actually have to do with actors at all, but he saw the inclusion of it as a good thing. synthetics have nothing to do with actor employment, but duncan argued that by putting it in here, we're forcing the studios to acknowledge that synthetics are horning in on our territory and it seems that the union will work to de-incentivize the use of synthetics by making it more expensive than hiring an actor (really hoping the MOA provides more clarity on this)

studios will meet with SAG twice a year to talk about AI stuff

he confirmed that studios have to hire background actors and if they use their digital replicas (which the background actors have to consent to) those actors have to be paid for their replicas work.

he made the argument that there are a lot of things, like consent to replicas, that are conditions of employment: salary, relocation, nudity, etc. and that's true, certainly, but this is still something we're going to have to keep close eyes on IMO.

there's a provision that actors have to be given notice for scenes that may be triggering to film! cool!

the Q&A

this is just a sampling of the many wonderful questions that were asked - if you're a member, I highly recommend you watch both of the livestreams and future meetings.

I didn't know this but there's a legal framework for minors to disavow contracts when they're 18, so this would allow minors to rescind their consent of their digital replicas. good!

someone pointed out that SAG could notify the membership about a company using synethics (which they have to notify SAG) about and use the membership/public to pressure the studios or boycott the use of synthetics. SAG confirmed that there's nothing to prevent SAG from telling us and letting us galvanize the public.

duncan reminded everyone that companies rely on copyright to make money and currently AI cannot legally by copyrighted, which will de-incentivize studios from leaning on it.

companies can only use digital replica in projects they've contracted, they cannot sell them to third party, which includes non-identifiable data. this was a great question and it's awesome to hear that the companies cannot do anything with any of the replica data, anonymized or not, without your consent.

there is so much likeness legislature out there already (you own your likeness, etc.), so these things just bolster those

a company choosing to hire someone else because you won't consent to scanning is not retaliation but being replaced during the course of your employment because of not consenting is and you could take action against that studio. and remember, they have to ask for your consent on specific things, so you would be giving your consent throughout presumably.

someone asked about loopholes with generative AI, and SAG emphasized that any resemblance to a real actor kicks it from synthetic into digital replicas and the actor would have to consent/be paid

background actors seem divided - in some ways they've gotten major gains and in others, they're very worried about being replaced because they don't want to be scanned.

they did fight for union consent to use of generative AI, and the studios are seemingly never going to give that

there was a question about studios scanning non-union actors and creating digital replicas and just using those instead; if I understood correctly (which I'm not sure I did), the studios would not be able to do that under this contract - all the digital replica terms would apply to any replica done, union or not.

my thoughts

I have all the same concerns as I expressed in my original post, but I do think that these meetings reassured me that SAG has the best intentions. I have been very vocal about my criticism of SAG (specifically how they approached podcasting, my main art form) so I don't have rose-colored glasses here. I have also seen them really improve on those areas of criticism in the past several years and I think we always have to keep in mind that we'll be back at the negotiations in two and a half years. I do think SAG is doing the best they can.

I also think it's important to always assume that the studios have the worst intentions. they're going to violate this contract if it's ratified and accept their fine/slap on the wrist/do not work orders and then violate the contract again. they're going to find loopholes to save money and behave badly. no contract in the world could prevent those things from happening. SAG is not great at enforcing these violations but no contract is going to fix that.

it has always been important for actors to rely on their agents, lawyers, and union for support and reporting violations and that's going to be more important than ever under this contract. it's also going to be so important for the famous and wealthy actors to sue the studios when there's particularly bad behavior on the AI stuff.

it's also going to be really important for you guys - the audience, the subscribers - to fully reject any and all use of synthetic performers. public pressure will be the way we keep acting alive as a profession and art form.

but here's where I'm at: I'm leaning toward yes. "but lauren, you had so many concerns! you think that this contract is an existential threat to acting!" yeah, I know. I'm still there, but I'm also leaning yes. I believe SAG when they say we're not going to get a better deal. I think even if we did go back on strike, we're losing public support and support from other unions - actors barely have leverage to begin with (which is why SAG contracts have historically not been great) and I don't foresee us gaining more over the next 6 months.

so I don't think we're going to get a better deal and I also agree that it's better to have some protections in place instead of nothing. ultimately, it comes down to the fact that my issues with the contract have a lot to do with that existential threat and the icky feeling that I get thinking about signing a contract that suggests at times that actors are meat puppets.

if this was a contract I was looking at as an individual, I would not sign it, plain and simple. but collective bargaining is a different thing. this contract unarguably gives actors more protection against AI than they currently have. we will get to renegotiate again in less than three years and this is a much better place to start from, especially considering how much AI will grow and change in the next few years. if we have to go on strike again, we will, and we'll be armed with a better contract and more knowledge, especially since we'll be able to see how studios behave within this contract.

I completely understand why people want to vote no. I would never presume to tell someone how I think they should vote - follow your conscience. I personally will not be voting until I've had time to review the MOA (memorandum of agreement) and I would encourage everyone to read the full contract before deciding how to vote.

tldr: I am leaning toward voting yes because my pragmatic brain is winning out - as someone who has experience negotiating with major studios as an individual, I know that SAG is telling the truth when they say this is likely as good as its able to get. this is the first battle in a war of AI and we can either live to fight another day or not. I think this contract will help us live, even if it isn't an out-and-out victory.

[askagamedev]

It's been reported that SAG-AFTRA members recently voted in favor of a strike. The union has been in negotiations with a number of video game companies including EA, Activision and Insomniac. In what ways will the strike affect (both positive and negative effects) these companies and their associated studios?

If it's anything like [the last strike] in 2016, it will likely follow the same procedure. If the union chooses to strike, any games that started development before a certain cutoff date would continue unaffected. Any games that start development after that cutoff date will be struck until an agreement is reached.

To my recollection, only about 40% of video game voice acting is done by union workers anyway. Indie studios and smaller publishers don't really have the money to pay union scale and often save money by using their developers or friends/family as actors. Hades, for example, had a large number of non-union voice actors. This is mostly setting up an agreement for large AAA games. Union actors will also sometimes do non-union work under an alias (like Cam Clarke being credited as "James Flinders" in Metal Gear Solid) to dodge the union rules, and that would likely continue.

Generally speaking, the amount of negotiating power the actors have with game publishers is significantly lower than when negotiating with the MPAA. Voice acting does matter and can elevate certain kinds of games (mostly narrative- or character-driven games like Baldur's Gate 3 or Mortal Kombat 1), but it certainly isn't universal - people don't play Minecraft, Counter-Strike, or Pokemon for the vocal performances. I wish the union luck in their negotiations and I hope that everybody reaches a mutually beneficial agreement. My main sympathies remain with the non-union voice actors out there who get the squeeze - joining the union is quite expensive and difficult, and the union obviously prioritizes union work over non-union members.

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[blueribbonbaby]

I really hope the actors vote no on the new sag deal. The deal is honestly horrible. Basically no A.I. Protection and doesn’t require intimacy coordinators. Fucks over everyone who isn’t a A lister!

[gingerswagfreckles]

What the WGA was offered on May 1st vs what they achieved through 5 months of striking, if anyone is interested. AI issues are at the very bottom of the document, starting on the bottom of page 6.

[mudwerks]

After SAG-AFTRA received backlash for approving 207 indie projects to continue filming during the actors-writers strike, the union announced on Monday that it will no longer give permission to independent projects that fall under the WGA contract.

Jason Bateman, Anne Hathaway, and Matthew McConaughey were among the celebrities tied to films in the interim agreements, according to Variety. After confirming that the indie projects were not affiliated with AMPTP companies, SAG-AFTRA had previously argued that the waivers supported the strike in a letter addressed to its members. The union stated that the interim agreement is a “vital part of our strategic approach to these negotiations and to the strike” and noted that the “Interim Agreement is not a waiver. To be clear, it is a contract that includes all terms and conditions for producers looking to employ our members on their specific independent productions.”

[thefirsthogokage]

HAHAHAHAHA (in the not-funny way)

OF COURSE THEY CONGRATULATE SAG-AFTRA, THEY GET TO REPLACE BACKGROUND AND STUNT ACTORS WITH AI!