Well, this is where things get tricky. During the negotiations with the SAG-AFTRA, the studio representatives offered a sort of pilot program, where they would consider Schedule F performers (union members earning more than $32,000 per TV episode or $60,000 per film). What would happen was that studios would approach the performers they were interested in and pay them an upfront amount to get an AI-scan that would be used in the studio’s project. However, the money they would be upfront was one and done, which means, once the performer received his/her upfront payment for the AI scan, the studio would receive an eternal license over that AI-likeness. This means that the studio can use this AI-likeness of the performer, wherever they wished and as many times as they wished.
This proposal was put forward by the studios as a part of their last and final offer to the SAG-AFTRA, but the response they got in return was to delete every mention of AI and AI related activities from the proposal. The two bodies are currently at an impasse of this and we will know more in due time.
