According to the contracts, “voice actors” “only includes humans.”
New contracts for voice performers in TV animation have been approved by SAG-AFTRA after more than 95% of members voted in support of the terms. The three-year agreements established new safeguards for the use of AI, such as the need for producers to get an actor’s permission before using their name as a cue to construct an AI voice. On Friday evening, SAG-AFTRA declared the contracts approved. They go into effect on June 30, 2026.
“The term ‘voice actor’ only includes humans,” according to the revised contracts. In addition, the contracts specify the rights of voice actors regarding the use of their digital copies by studios and mandate that producers notify the union and engage in collective bargaining whenever they substitute AI-generated voices for voice actors. The co-chairs of the TV Animation Negotiating Committee, David Jolliffe and Bob Bergen, released a statement saying, “This is the first SAG-AFTRA animation voiceover contract with protections against the misuse of artificial intelligence.”
The deal “represents a meaningful step forward in expanding our A.I. protections,” according to SAG-AFTRA Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. It also includes “important new terms in the areas of foreign residuals, high-budget SVOD [subscription video-on-demand] productions, late payments, and much more.” Actors will get retroactive payments for the first of the contracts’ scheduled wage hikes, which is a 7 percent rise dated back to July 1, 2023. Thereafter, on July 1st of this year, there will be a 4 percent hike, and the following year, there will be a 3.5 percent increase.
Voice actors now have a method to “safely” license their synthetic voice replicas for video games, thanks to an agreement the union struck earlier this year with Replica Studios, an AI voice-generating company. Another important element of the strike-ending agreement SAG-AFTRA secured with Hollywood studios late last year was AI protection.
