We wrote about the longest strike of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).

This strike has concluded with historical significance—after prolonged negotiations, WGA and SAG-AFTRA members have achieved significant victories.

Screenwriters

Firstly, the WGA strike officially ended on October 9^th, 2023, when the agreement between WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTM) was concluded and ratified. According to the WGA statement, writers secured salary increases, contributions to health and pension plans, as well as new residual fees for streaming abroad and performance-based bonuses for streaming content. Most importantly, the screenwriters fought that AI will not be able to be used to write the screenplay, nor to acquire the rights reserved for screenwriters, while the screenwriters themselves may or may not use it in their work.

Actors

Another good news that resonated on November 8^th, 2023, from SAG-AFTRA is that the negotiating committee unanimously approved a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. Furthermore, as of 12:01 a.m. on November 9^th, 2023, the actors’ strike was officially called off!

The agreement, whose summary has been disclosed, provides for improved financial and other conditions for actors, most notably in terms of streaming fees.

Actors also laid the historical foundation for the relationship with AI. The agreement introduces a number of new definitions for different types of replicas regarding the use of AI, compensation for the use of their replicas by AI (which should be paid according to the day-of-engagement system), and etc.

While the focus is on the material part, i.e. fees, it seems that other “moral” rights in some parts remained undefined or insufficiently clear how they will be implemented in practice.

Mandatory affirmative and informed consent for the use of voice and character for AI i for all uses, including compensation for the creation and use of digital replicas of members, living and deceased, whether created on set or licensed for use.

There are exceptions to the obligation to obtain consent – e.g. it is not needed if it does not go beyond the scope of the script, performance and how it was filmed. Also, it seems that the studios have a lot of authority in post production, so it is not clear to what extent the actor will be able to influence the final product of his/her interpretation.

The application of the agreement in question will certainly have its epilogue in practice, and we remind you that the original text of the agreement has not been published, so it is possible that some answers can be found in the text of the agreement itself.

The impact of this agreement, especially in the field of streaming services and AI, will undoubtedly be a topic of discussion in the future. It is certain that these will be the most significant issues that the film industry, as well as the entire artistic community, will deal with in the coming years.