Navigating Guild and Union AI Positions

At Loeb’s AI Summit in Los Angeles on April 21, I had the opportunity to moderate a cross-industry roundtable focused on how entertainment industry guilds and unions, alongside companies, are navigating the evolving use of artificial intelligence. The guilds and unions are very concerned about companies using AI to displace/replace their members, using digital replicas of members' images, likenesses, voices and performances without consent and compensation and using material created under guild agreements to train generative AI (GenAI). During the 2023 collective bargaining negotiations, the guilds and unions were able to address some of these concerns, despite the fact that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) initially took the position that negotiation regarding AI was premature, given that the companies did not necessarily know how they intended to use AI. In the current negotiations, AI remains an important issue which both sides appear willing to negotiate more collaboratively. 

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the first guild to make a new deal that its members recently ratified, which specifically includes the WGA's right to meet semi-annually with signatory companies at the WGA's request to discuss and review information related to the use of GenAI in motion picture development and production and potential remuneration if WGA literary material is used to train public-facing commercially available GenAI systems.  

SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP are set to resume negotiations on April 27. SAG-AFTRA and some of its members are embracing that creation of digital replicas with performers' consent can be beneficial when there are conflicting project commitments, when performers are deceased and to create impossible or unsafe stunts, in addition to creating additional revenue opportunities. With members concerned about being replaced by synthetic performers, SAG-AFTRA will undoubtedly push for more guardrails in the 2026 agreements.  

In the 2023 negotiations, the Directors Guild of America (DGA) took the position that its creative rights provisions protected its members. However, I anticipate that the DGA will put more specific guardrails around the use of AI in the 2026 agreements, including the potential use of AI in DGA covered projects to create content without the director's direction.  

While some companies are focused on strategically using AI to cut labor costs, other companies are focused on AI as a tool to enhance what storytellers, creators and performers can do. The rapidity of the evolution of AI is creating challenges for lawyers and others responsible for mitigating risks when executives and creatives want to push the limits. Guild and union considerations should be part of the decision-making process to avoid grievances and arbitration. 

We are in a moment in our industry where we are faced with decisions regarding the use of AI that can have an incredibly positive or negative impact on the people working in our industry and related industries. It is a moment to reflect on the ethical use of AI and respect for human contributions.