The strikes in 2023 set a good precedent when it came to AI. But as we near the 2026 negotiations with streamers, SAG-AFTRA is being proactive when it comes to laying out just what they want in terms of protection and how AI is handled in Hollywood. SAG-AFTRA chief Duncan Crabtree-Ireland was on a panel at the SeriesFest in Denver when he said AI would be a huge component in the upcoming talks. “I’d never prejudge it, because our members – we’re a member-driven organization – decide what our priorities are going to be. We didn’t get everything that I would have wanted [in 2023], or that they would have wanted in that negotiation. This is evolving over time. In the commercial contract deal we just got, we achieved, for the first time, a contractual limitation on the use of our members’ work for training AI systems. That’s not something we have been able to achieve in any prior contract until just now,” he said.Crabtree-Ireland calls for "consent and compensation" to lead the way. And it has been. Protections secured in the recently approved 2025 SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract mandate that advertisers or agencies must obtain SAG-AFTRA's consent prior to authorizing third-party use of commercial material for AI training. Crabtree-Ireland said, “We would have liked to have had that in the TV theatrical agreement. We weren’t able to achieve that despite being on strike for over four months. But I think now, as this industry evolves, as the use of the...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Yesterday