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acting contractsPATCH 2026.10.16

How Actors Can Review AI and Digital-Replica Clauses Before Signing a Contract

By VGSources Team 10 min read

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Can a producer use your voice or likeness for AI after you sign? Sometimes—but the answer depends on the exact wording, the production category, the union agreement, and the governing law. A sentence granting rights to a digital replica is not self-explanatory. Before signing, identify what will be captured, which outputs are permitted, how long and where they may be used, what payment is triggered, and what control remains after delivery.

This guide is a contract-reading checklist for performers, including voice, motion-capture, and game actors. It draws on current SAG-AFTRA examples and California statutory summaries, but it is not a substitute for advice about your contract. Union status, state law, the production type, and the agreement’s effective dates can change the result.

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The five questions to answer before you sign

  1. What data is being captured? Look for face, body, voice, movement, scans, recordings, performance files, and biometric identifiers. A definition may include ordinary production material or data unrelated to the role.
  2. What is a digital replica or generated performance? Determine whether the clause covers a recognizable copy of you, voice conversion, dubbing, digital alteration, synthetic characters, derivative assets, or AI training. Different agreements use different definitions.
  3. What exactly may be done with it? The clause should identify the project, episode, picture, game or other work, scenes or character actions, media, advertising, localization, territory and term. Language such as any purpose, in perpetuity or all media now known or later devised deserves careful interpretation rather than an assumption that it is automatically invalid.
  4. What is the payment trigger? Separate compensation for scanning or creation from payment for an actual generated performance, reuse, media, territory, holding periods, residuals and third-party licensing.
  5. What happens to the asset later? Check retention and deletion, access, security, vendors, model training, sublicensing, assignment, transfer to a buyer and the remedies available if the use changes.

Separate creation consent from use consent

A request to scan you is different from permission to use the resulting file. Ask why the producer needs a face scan, voice capture, body scan, motion-capture session or other data collection, whether the request is optional, and what outputs the producer may make from it. A producer may ask for a scan for continuity, a stunt double, localization or a later synthetic performance; each purpose has a different risk and should be stated.

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The SAG-AFTRA summary of its 2026 TV/Theatrical agreement says: “Producers must have an articulable business reason when seeking performer or background actor consent to scan them for the creation of an Employment Based Digital Replica.” That protection belongs to the covered agreement and its effective terms; it is not a universal rule for every nonunion job or every state.

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Do not treat a signature on a start-work form, voucher or general release as proof that you consented to every AI use. For background performers, SAG-AFTRA says a voucher clause does not by itself establish valid consent when it conflicts with the applicable agreement. The use, medium and compensation still need to satisfy the governing contract.

How to mark up an AI clause, step by step

1. Collect every document that could grant rights

Read the employment contract, exhibit, digital-replica rider, confidentiality agreement, release, casting form, session sheet and any incorporated union terms together. A narrow rider can be overridden in practice by a broad definition elsewhere. Note which document controls if terms conflict and whether an amendment can be made without your later signature.

2. Circle every definition

Highlight digital replica, synthetic performer, biometric data, training, alteration, performance, voice, likeness, materials and derivative work. Ask whether “performance” includes your improvisation, unused takes, rehearsal, outtakes, stems, facial markers or metadata. Ask whether “likeness” reaches a fictional character that merely resembles you, and whether “training” permits a model to learn from your recordings even when the model does not reproduce your exact face or voice.

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3. List the inputs and outputs

Make two columns in your notes. Under inputs, list photographs, scans, voice recordings, motion-capture data, facial markers, body measurements, raw takes and biometric identifiers. Under outputs, list a cloned voice, altered dialogue, new facial expression, body replacement, translated speech, new scenes, advertising versions, game dialogue variants and training data. If an output is not listed, ask whether the producer claims it is covered by a catch-all phrase.

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4. Demand a concrete use description

Replace a general grant with a description a stranger could understand. It should identify the production, the role or character, the scenes or actions, the medium, advertising use, localization, territory, term and whether new dialogue or scenes may be generated. Ask whether a sequel, downloadable content, remake, trailer, social clip or another title is included. A permission to finish the contracted scene is materially different from a permission to create new scenes years later.

5. Find the consent checkpoints

Determine whether consent to capture is separate from consent to create or use a replica. Check whether the writing is prominent and separate from the employment contract, whether each episode, picture or game is identified, and what happens when the producer changes the use. SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical guidance has described consent as generally required for each replica use, with limited exceptions; a series-wide grant is not presented as blanket permission when each episode or picture and its intended use must be identified. That older FAQ discusses the 2023 contract, so reconcile its concepts with the ratified 2026 agreement before relying on a particular protection.

6. Trace the money

Find a number or formula for the scan or creation session, the first use, each additional use, holding periods, media, territory, reuse, residuals and third-party licensing. Ask whether the producer can call a generated scene a mere “edit” and pay only the original session fee. Ask whether an existing buyout absorbs later synthetic uses. If the clause says compensation will be negotiated later, identify the event that triggers that negotiation and what happens if the parties do not agree.

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7. Read the custody and transfer language

Identify who owns the raw recordings, the replica file, model weights and generated outputs. Check how long each item is retained, who can access it, what security standard applies, whether vendors may receive it, whether it can be used to train another model, and whether you receive usage reports. Read assignment and successor provisions: a production may be sold, licensed or transferred, and you need to know whether the new owner remains bound by the same limits.

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8. Identify remedies and exit rules

Look for a stop-use right, suspension process, correction procedure, audit, grievance, arbitration, court venue and damages or injunctive relief. Ask what happens if the project is cancelled, the company is sold or a strike occurs. Do not assume that signing always leaves you a general right to revoke. The SAG-AFTRA interactive-media FAQ describes suspension of consent as limited unless independently negotiated conditions apply, with a strike exception in the circumstances it specifies.

What current union examples show

SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical

SAG-AFTRA members ratified a successor TV/Theatrical Agreement in June 2026. The union’s summary says the agreement runs from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2030, and describes an articulable business reason for scanning; restrictions on digital alteration beyond what was scripted; consent for using a replica to dub a performance into another language on the agreement’s effective timetable; protections for biometric data and minors; strike protections; security safeguards; and continuing responsibility for replica protections after a transfer, subject to the agreement’s terms. It also strengthens controls over synthetics and commits producers to favor human performance.

Those protections do not all necessarily start on the same day or apply to every job. Check the operative agreement for the covered work, definitions and effective date before telling a producer that a particular provision already controls your contract.

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Background performers

SAG-AFTRA’s background-performer guidance calls for clear and conspicuous consent that describes the replica’s use and medium. Compensation depends on the type of use and the applicable agreement. An employer may own materials created from a performer’s work while contractual consent and payment terms still limit how those materials can be used.

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Commercials

The 2025 SAG-AFTRA commercials bulletin requires clear and conspicuous consent tied to a reasonably specific intended-use description, recorded in a Digital Replica Rider or another writing separate from the employment contract. A use outside the original description requires another description and consent. For a commercial using a performance generated by a digital replica, that bulletin states payment of 150% of the session fee for each commercial, plus applicable holding and use fees under that agreement. This is a contract-specific rate, not a universal actor fee.

Interactive media and games

The 2025 interactive-media agreement FAQ says consent is invalidated when use no longer fits the reasonably specific description. It describes suspension of consent as limited absent independently negotiated suspension conditions, with a strike exception in the circumstances stated by the agreement. A game contract therefore needs a precise description of character, dialogue, performance capture, generated variations, downloadable content, localization and future releases; a generic “interactive” label does not answer those questions.

How to compare two offers

Compare like work categories under the same agreement. A commercial rider and a game or TV/Theatrical clause should not be ranked by headline fee alone.

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Comparison axis Questions to ask
Captured data and outputs Does the producer collect only the contracted performance, or also scans, biometrics, unused takes and training data? Can it make new dialogue, scenes, translations or characters?
Specificity and consent Are the project, episode, game, scenes, media and localization named? Is a new consent required for a materially different use?
Term, territory and transfer When does permission end? Is it exclusive? Can a buyer, licensee or vendor use the asset, and does the same protection follow the transfer?
Compensation What is paid for capture, creation, each use, reuse, holding, media, residuals and third-party licensing? Does a buyout cover later synthetic performances?
Security and training Who stores the files, for how long, with what access controls? May the files or outputs train another model?
Remedies Can you suspend or stop use? Are there reporting, audit, grievance, arbitration or strike provisions?
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California law: an additional layer, not a complete answer

California’s official September 17, 2024 announcement describes AB 2602 as requiring contracts to specify the intended use of an AI-generated replica of a performer’s voice or likeness and requiring the performer to be professionally represented in negotiating the contract. The same announcement says AB 1836 requires estate consent for commercial use of digital replicas of deceased performers in covered expressive works and recordings.

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These are summaries from the Governor’s office, not a substitute for the enacted statutory text, definitions, exceptions, effective dates or court decisions. They apply to California questions; they do not create a nationwide rule. Ask counsel to determine whether the statute covers your work, whether representation satisfies the statutory requirement, and how the contract’s language interacts with any union agreement.

Red flags that need an explanation

  • “Any purpose” or “all media now known or later devised.” Ask for a list of permitted uses and a process for new uses.
  • “In perpetuity” with no deletion or successor limits. Ask whether the term can be narrowed and what happens after the project ends.
  • One signature for scanning, training and every future performance. Separate the capture, creation and use permissions.
  • “Edit,” “enhancement” or “technical adjustment” without boundaries. Specify whether the producer can add dialogue, change an action, alter age or create a new scene.
  • Payment described only as the session fee. Ask how a generated performance, reuse, localization, advertising or third-party license is paid.
  • Unrestricted sublicensing or assignment. Require the same consent, security, deletion and payment obligations to bind vendors, licensees and successors.
  • No security, retention or breach language. Ask where files are stored, who can download them, when they are deleted and what notice follows unauthorized access.
  • A voucher or general release presented as AI consent. Check the applicable union agreement and insist on clear, conspicuous, specific writing where required.

When to get union or legal review

Ask the union that covers the work to identify the controlling agreement and whether the proposed description is adequate. SAG-AFTRA tells members who receive an inadequate description to contact the union for assistance and invites members concerned about surrendering AI rights to submit their agreement. A nonunion performer should identify the governing state law and consult a lawyer experienced in entertainment contracts before signing, especially when the clause covers biometric data, model training, perpetual rights or a transfer to an unknown party.

Give the reviewer the complete contract package, not just the AI paragraph. Ask for written answers to five points: the exact permitted inputs and outputs; the consent required for a changed use; the payment trigger and calculation; retention, security and successor duties; and the available remedy if the producer exceeds the grant. Keep the signed version, riders, emails describing the use and records of every scan or session.

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A practical decision rule

You do not need to reject every digital-replica clause. You do need to understand its boundaries before you sign. A workable clause states what is captured, what is generated, where and for how long it may appear, how a new use is approved, how each use is paid, who controls the files and what remedy applies when the boundaries are crossed. If those answers are missing, pause and obtain union or qualified entertainment-law advice rather than treating a broad release as an informed, permanent consent.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

acting contractsAI in entertainmentDigital replicasMotion CaptureSAG-AFTRAVideo Game Actorsvoice acting

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