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To: Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television
Open Letter to PACT: We Demand Better in AI in Film & TV!
Dear PACT,
We are writing ahead of your negotiation meeting with Equity Officials on 25 June to express concern at the lack of progress on securing AI protections for performers. We believe this is unacceptable and urge Pact to prioritise this crucial area affecting our industry and livelihoods.
Since Equity lodged the union’s claim regarding comprehensive protections for AI last year, generative AI systems continue to advance and have become more established in the production process. Meanwhile, thousands of performers working on Pact-Equity productions have been digitally scanned on set without their informed consent. We also have no transparency around how our performances, likeness and personal data are being recorded, stored and processed within the context of the production and beyond.
Our union has put forward a constructive proposal that seeks to modernise our collective agreements across television and film, creating long-term foundations for regulating the use of AI in production. This includes important provisions on AI training, which the union has made clear is a red line in these negotiations. We will not accept any deal that does not grant us key protections for the use of our personal data for training AI systems and creating AI-generated performances.
We urge you to use your next meeting to make significant progress on this matter, given no formal counter-claim has yet been presented by Pact.
Yours sincerely,
Add your name to show your support for Equity's demands on AI! Join Equity members across the country in demanding better in AI in Film & TV
Yours sincerely,
Add your name to show your support for Equity's demands on AI! Join Equity members across the country in demanding better in AI in Film & TV
Why is this important?
Equity is currently negotiating with Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television (PACT) to revise and improve the collective agreements across film and TV. PACT is the UK screen sector trade body for independent production and distribution companies.
This will set the minimum terms for job contracts used by the big streamers such as Apple, Netflix, and Disney plus.
In our negotiations with PACT, we are demanding better on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI has grown rapidly across the entertainment industry in recent years, but UK law has failed to keep pace and this is leading to performers being exploited.
Equity is demanding comprehensive AI protections to regulate the use of AI and protect performers’ image, voice and likeness, specifically:
This will set the minimum terms for job contracts used by the big streamers such as Apple, Netflix, and Disney plus.
In our negotiations with PACT, we are demanding better on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI has grown rapidly across the entertainment industry in recent years, but UK law has failed to keep pace and this is leading to performers being exploited.
Equity is demanding comprehensive AI protections to regulate the use of AI and protect performers’ image, voice and likeness, specifically:
- Informed consent and fair compensation for use of performance data to train AI models
- Informed consent and fair compensation for creating AI-generated performances
- Control of your likeness during lifetime and post-mortem
- Prohibiting the use of AI for ‘dubbing’ content in foreign languages
So far PACT has refused to negotiate on these demands.
What is AI training and what is Equity fighting for?
In order for AI systems, or machine learning models, to generate digital assets such as images, sound, audiovisual media, and digital human-like digital performances, they must be trained on large volumes of data files. This data could include recordings from existing content or data from Artists that are being scanned on set. As part of our claim, we have seeking to establish clear rules for this type of use and we’ve made clear that training on TV programmes or films featuring performers’ contribution is not allowed without an explicit agreement between Equity and PACT
How it will be delivered
by hand to PACT during negotiations