SAG-AFTRA says digital voice simulation must be bargained

The audio task

A producer or label wants to put a union performer's voice into a synthetic audio tool – for a demo, a dub, or a generated performance – and needs to know what consent that requires before recording anything, not after a finished track is challenged.

What the documents show

SAG-AFTRA's own statement on AI and digital doubles, dated 17 March 2023, states that "the terms and conditions involving rights to digitally simulate a performer to create new performances must be bargained with the union," and that any use of a recorded performance "is limited by our collectively bargained contract provisions, including those requiring consent and negotiation of compensation." It states these rights are "mandatory subjects of bargaining" under the National Labor Relations Act, and that Global Rule One bars members from assigning digital-simulation rights to any employer without a union contract. A later SAG-AFTRA statement, published 31 May 2024, states that "the principles of compensation and consent were two important negotiating points for SAG-AFTRA in our most recent deal with the studios and streamers," welcoming Department of Justice scrutiny of AI developers. Neither statement quotes the specific contract clause language, and neither is a music-industry-specific agreement; both describe SAG-AFTRA's media and entertainment bargaining generally.

Rights status

As these statements describe it, a union performer's voice or likeness cannot lawfully be committed to AI simulation by an individual side deal; SAG-AFTRA states that companies attempting to bypass the union and deal directly with a performer on these terms violate federal labor law. The statements do not describe terms for a non-union performer, and do not state that every SAG-AFTRA agreement already contains identical AI language across all contract types.

What to check before you use it

This is an editorial checklist. Confirm whether the performer involved is a SAG-AFTRA member and which specific agreement covers the project, verify that any AI use has gone through the required union bargaining rather than a private rider, and route uncertainty to SAG-AFTRA's own contact channel rather than assuming consent from a general union statement.

• Is the performer whose voice I want to use a SAG-AFTRA member, and under which agreement?
• Has the specific AI use been bargained with the union, or only agreed privately with the performer?
• What would change about consent and payment if this performer were not under a SAG-AFTRA contract?

SAG-AFTRA's own record states a bargaining requirement and a compensation principle clearly; it does not by itself supply the specific contract text a given music project would need to check.