Hollywood actors’ union SAG-AFTRA has signed a deal with artificial intelligence-based advertising marketplace Narrativ that will allow union members to license their digital voice likeness through the platform.
Under the new agreement, unionized artists who want to offer their digital audio copies on Narrative can set their own wages, as long as they meet or exceed the union’s minimum wage for commercials. Artists will specify what kind of commercials they want to hear their voice in and can approve or reject offers for those commercials that are made to them. For any use of an artist’s voice in a commercial, the actor must consent to that use.
The union announced the agreement on Wednesday after its standing committee on commercial contracts and its national executive committee approved the wording. “Not all members will be interested in taking advantage of the opportunities that licensing their digital voice copies could provide, and that is understandable. But for those who are interested, there is now a safe option,” the union’s national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said in a statement. “Narrative has agreed to our terms, and its platform is a great example of how AI can be used ethically by putting remuneration, informed consent and control in the hands of individual performers.”
The narrative agreement will result in union health and pension contributions, SAG-AFTRA added, which the announcement said “supports the long-term financial security of the plans.”
Narrative co-founder Ben Gottdiener said in a statement that AI enables marketers to “deliver the right message, in a voice that resonates with the right person, in the right place, at the right time.” He added that “the ethical use of AI does not invalidate that vision. It strengthens it. By ensuring that every person involved in creating that message is informed of its content, consents to its use, and is fairly compensated, we make that vision sustainable, repeatable, and real.”
As interest in AI has skyrocketed over the past year, SAG-AFTRA has struck several audio agreements that allow members to monetize the technology in a regulated way. In January, the union, which represents about 160,000 artists, announced a deal with AI voice technology company Replica Studios, which works with major video game labels. In June, the union released an exemption for personalized AI audio commercials, allowing members to work on dynamic ads with signatories to SAG-AFTRA’s audio commercials agreement.
