Gavin Newsom Signs Bills Protecting Compensation for Child Influencers

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As someone who has walked the winding path of Hollywood, I’ve seen the glitz and the grit, the highs and the lows, and everything in between. The industry can be ruthless, especially to those who are young and vulnerable – child performers. That’s why I applaud Governor Newsom for signing these groundbreaking bills into law.

Governor Gavin Newsom enacted two laws yesterday, which provide additional financial safeguards for kids who earn money through online content creation.

California Assembly Bill 1880 broadens the scope of the state’s long-standing Coogan Law to include minor influencers and online content creators, in addition to child performers. The Coogan Law, enacted in 1939 and named after Jackie Coogan, a former child star of silent films, requires that 15% of a child performer’s earnings be set aside in a trust fund for their future use when they reach adulthood.

On Thursday, Senate Bill 764 was approved. This legislation mandates that social media personalities who include children in more than a third of their posts should save a portion of their earnings into a trust for the child’s future use when they reach adulthood. The bill also stipulates that content creators must keep records detailing income derived from posts with children, as well as the total minutes those minors were featured, along with other relevant details.

Demi Lovato, a former child star on Disney Channel who recently produced and featured in the Hulu documentary “Child Star“, focusing on financial exploitation of young performers, attended Governor Newsom for the signing ceremony on Thursday. In a video shared on his California Governor’s account, Newsom noted that “the entertainment industry has undergone significant changes with the rise of online platforms and social media influencers” since the implementation of California’s Coogan Law. He added that this new legislation helps address that gap, effectively sealing a loophole within it.

In a voiceover, Lovato referred to the laws as “effectively the digital era equivalent of the Coogan Law.

Under the groundbreaking law passed by Illinois last year, influencers now need to put aside a portion of their earnings from content involving children under 16 years old in a trust, effective as of July 1st. In simpler terms, this means that when influencers use kids under age 16 in their online content, they must save part of the income they earn from it for safekeeping.

The Assembly Bill 1880 was proposed by Assemblymember Juan Alanis, and Senate Bill 764 was presented by Senator Steve Padilla. In a comment regarding California’s legislation, the national head of actors’ union SAG-AFTRA, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, emphasized that child performers should be given maximum protection, regardless of the type of production or broadcasting method used.

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2024-09-26 21:24