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Freedom251 › Blog › AI performers

What Is an AI Performer Waiver, and What Rights Does It Give a Studio?

By Freedom251 Team · · 9 min read

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An AI performer waiver is a consent or license clause that lets a production company create or use a digital replica of a performer’s voice, likeness, or performance. It is not a standardized legal form. The studio’s actual rights depend on the signed wording, any applicable union agreement, and the law governing the contract.

A waiver may authorize only the technical capture of a performer, or it may also permit the studio to generate new dialogue, scenes, or advertising with the replica. Those are different permissions. A signature should never be treated as automatic approval for unlimited future AI use.

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What “AI performer waiver” means

The phrase is practical industry shorthand, not the name of one universally recognized document. A waiver might appear as a standalone digital-replica rider, an addendum to an employment agreement, a license, or a clause in a broader performer contract.

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Most such documents address a digital replica: a computer-generated simulation that is intended to resemble a real performer’s voice, face, body, or recorded performance. That is different from a wholly synthetic character that is not based on an identifiable person. A replica can be created during a specific production with the performer’s participation, or created independently and later licensed to a producer.

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The important question is therefore not “Did the performer sign an AI waiver?” but “What exactly did the performer authorize, for which project, for how long, and in what media?”

The two permissions a studio may seek

Creating the replica

Creation permission covers scanning, filming, voice recording, motion capture, facial capture, body measurements, or other processes used to build a reusable digital model. A contract can authorize this capture without authorizing the studio to generate new performances from the resulting files.

Using the replica to generate new material

Generation permission covers making new speech, images, movement, or performances that the performer did not personally deliver at the time. The clause should identify the intended dialogue, character, scene, language, medium, distribution, and project whenever those details are known.

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A document that clearly permits scanning but says little about later generation may give the studio a weaker basis for producing new material. Conversely, a broad generation grant may raise questions about whether it covers sequels, spin-offs, advertising, games, dubbing, or unrelated productions.

What rights a waiver can give a studio

Rights category Questions the document should answer
Replica creation May the studio scan, record, capture, or otherwise build a digital model? Which source materials are included?
Generated performance May the studio create new voice, facial, body, or full performances? Is human approval required before release?
Project and media Does permission cover one named film, episode, commercial, game, or series, or unspecified future productions? Which media and platforms are included?
Content and character What dialogue, actions, languages, characters, edits, ratings, and genres are permitted?
Duration and territory How long may the replica and generated material be used, and in which countries?
Alterations Can the studio change physical traits, accent, age, body, clothing, or apparent nudity? Are offensive or reputationally harmful uses excluded?
Payment What is owed for capture, each generated performance, holding the replica, initial use, reuse, and additional media?
Storage and deletion Where are scans and model files stored, who can access them, and when must they be deleted?
Transfer and sublicensing Can the studio assign the rights to another producer, platform, advertiser, or artificial-intelligence vendor?
Death and withdrawal Does consent continue after death? Can the performer withdraw permission, and under what conditions?

These categories are separate. A clause that grants ownership of production materials does not automatically provide permission for every later digital-replica use.

How specific should the consent be?

Specificity is one of the most consequential parts of a waiver. A description such as “all future uses in any media” gives the studio a much broader argument than “one English-language television commercial for Product X, distributed in the United States for the stated campaign period.” It also creates more uncertainty about whether the performer knowingly agreed to an unexpected use.

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SAG-AFTRA’s TV/Theatrical guidance says consent is generally required for each use, subject to limited exceptions. An identified multi-project exception requires the agreement to specify each episode or picture and describe the proposed use. If the planned use changes beyond the description, additional consent is required.

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For a practical review, look for named projects, media, characters, languages, distribution channels, term, territory, and a process for approving material changes. “AI rights” by itself is not a useful scope description.

What the 2025 SAG-AFTRA Commercials terms require

The 2025 SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract bulletin describes requirements for covered union commercial work; it does not automatically govern every production or every performer.

Separate, conspicuous writing

Consent must be clear and conspicuous and obtained through a Digital Replica Rider or another writing separate from the employment contract. The performer must receive a reasonably specific description of the intended use.

Notice before generating a performance

For covered commercial performance generation, the bulletin calls for notice and consent at least 48 hours before the performance is generated, but never less than 24 hours. A use outside the described purpose requires additional consent and another specific description.

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Limits on certain not-yet-engaged uses

Some not-yet-engaged commercial uses are limited to the same advertiser and product line and to production within the original commercial’s maximum period of use. Those limits are agreement-specific, so they should not be generalized to nonunion contracts.

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Payment for a generated commercial performance

Under the 2025 SAG-AFTRA Commercials terms, a generated performance is compensated at 150% of a session fee per commercial, plus applicable holding and use fees. The bulletin says a scale session fee may be applied to use fees.

That figure is a contract term, not a universal market rate. A performer outside the agreement may have different negotiated compensation, and a waiver that omits payment for future generation can create a major economic disadvantage. Check whether the document pays separately for the original capture, each generated performance, holding the replica, renewals, additional territories, and reuse in a new campaign.

Restrictions on changing a performer’s appearance or performance

The commercials bulletin says that, unless explicitly consented to in a reasonably specific description, a producer may not use a replica to change physical traits, make the performer appear nude or partially nude, or create a performance that could be offensive to a reasonable person.

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The bulletin gives changing hair color, eye color, or accent as examples of physical-trait changes. A well-drafted waiver should also address apparent age, body shape, disability, ethnicity, religion, political statements, sexual content, dangerous conduct, and any use likely to harm the performer’s reputation. If a producer wants those rights, the description should say so plainly rather than relying on a general “derivative works” sentence.

Retention, deletion, and security

Under the same 2025 commercials terms, a producer may retain a replica through the commercial’s maximum period of use. Retention beyond that period requires written consent.

When retention consent is not obtained, the producer must permanently delete replica copies within 90 days and certify the deletion in writing. The commercial containing the generated performance does not have to be destroyed. This distinction matters: deleting the underlying model does not necessarily require removing an already released advertisement.

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A performer should ask whether source scans, voice files, training data, backups, vendor copies, and derived models are all covered by the deletion obligation. The contract should identify who performs deletion, how backups are handled, and what written certification will be supplied.

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Ownership, transfer, and post-death use

Ownership is not blanket permission

SAG-AFTRA’s TV/Theatrical resource explains that an employer may own materials created from work on a motion picture. Contract terms can still prohibit use of those materials without the performer’s consent and, in most cases, further payment. A studio’s ownership of footage, scans, or other production materials should therefore not be read as unlimited permission to generate new performances.

Transfer and sublicensing

Check whether the studio may transfer the replica or grant access to a parent company, distributor, platform, advertising agency, visual-effects vendor, or artificial-intelligence provider. A transfer clause should preserve the same use limits, payment obligations, security controls, and deletion duties for every recipient.

Consent after death

SAG-AFTRA’s February 2026 interactive bulletin says consent granted during a performer’s lifetime remains valid after death unless the parties bargain otherwise. That statement is agreement-specific. A waiver should say whether post-death use is allowed, for which projects, for how long, and who can enforce or terminate the permission.

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United States legal rules that can affect a waiver

New York

New York General Obligations Law § 5-302 addresses provisions in personal- or professional-services agreements that allow a digital replica to replace work the individual would otherwise perform in person. The law describes circumstances in which a provision is void and unenforceable as to the new performance, including the absence of a reasonably specific description of the intended use and the absence of the specified negotiating legal representation or labor-organization agreement coverage.

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The statute defines a digital replica as a digital simulation so closely resembling a person’s voice or likeness that a layperson could not readily distinguish it from the authentic one. The New York Senate page displays a revision dated January 3, 2025. Whether the statute applies depends on the contract, parties, conduct, and governing law.

California performer contracts

In September 2024, the California governor announced that AB 2602 requires certain contracts to specify the use of AI-generated replicas of a performer’s voice or likeness and requires professional representation in negotiation. The same announcement said AB 1836 requires estate consent for commercial use of deceased performers’ digital replicas in specified entertainment media.

These measures do not turn every waiver into a standard form. A California contract still needs to be read with its exact project, representation, and use terms.

Advertising disclosure is a different issue

California’s SB 1050, signed September 16, 2026, concerns disclosure to audiences rather than permission from the performer. The measure requires explicit disclosure in video or audio advertisements using AI-generated performers to sell products or services and prohibits continued use of an advertisement found in violation.

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As Governor Gavin Newsom put it: “Californians deserve to know when the person selling them something isn’t a person at all.” An audience-disclosure rule does not replace the performer’s consent, payment, or contract protections.

How to evaluate an AI performer waiver before signing

  1. Separate creation from use. Mark every sentence dealing with scans, recordings, model building, or training, then separately mark every sentence authorizing generated performances.
  2. List the permitted outputs. Write down the exact voice, likeness, movements, dialogue, characters, languages, edits, ratings, and formats the studio may create.
  3. Identify each project and channel. Check whether the grant names a picture, episode, commercial, game, campaign, platform, territory, and distribution period.
  4. Test future-use language. Look for sequels, remakes, spin-offs, unrelated productions, new advertisers, new product lines, and training or promotional uses. Require a new approval where the use is materially different.
  5. Review alterations. Confirm rules for physical traits, age, accent, nudity, sexual content, offensive material, political statements, and reputational harm.
  6. Calculate payment events. Determine what triggers a session fee, generation fee, holding fee, use fee, renewal fee, reuse payment, or residual.
  7. Set retention and deletion rules. Cover source files, models, backups, vendors, access controls, deletion deadlines, and written certification.
  8. Check transfer rights. Require successors and vendors to accept the same restrictions and payment obligations.
  9. Address death and withdrawal. State whether consent survives death, whether an estate can enforce it, and whether any withdrawal or termination right exists.
  10. Compare the contract with governing rules. Check the applicable union agreement and the law of the relevant jurisdiction before signing.

Warning signs in broad waivers

  • A single sentence grants “all rights in perpetuity, in all media” without describing the intended performance.
  • The document authorizes scanning but never explains how generated performances will be approved or paid.
  • “Derivative works” language silently includes new characters, languages, advertising, or unrelated productions.
  • The studio can transfer the replica to unnamed third parties without preserving restrictions.
  • There is no deletion process for scans, models, backups, or vendor copies.
  • The contract says the studio owns all materials and implies that ownership eliminates the need for later consent.
  • Post-death use is permitted indefinitely without identifying the project, compensation, or estate rights.

A qualified entertainment lawyer, union representative, or other professional should review the actual document when the proposed rights are broad, the project is high-profile, or the performer’s identity has substantial commercial value.

Bottom line for performers and studios

An AI performer waiver can give a studio permission to make a digital replica, generate new performances, distribute them, retain the underlying files, and sometimes transfer the rights. It can also impose meaningful limits on those permissions through project descriptions, payment rules, alteration restrictions, deletion deadlines, and consent requirements.

Because there is no single standard waiver, the signed text controls within the limits imposed by an applicable union agreement and law. Treat creation, generation, payment, retention, transfer, and post-death use as separate negotiating issues, and do not assume that ownership language or an audience-disclosure rule supplies permission that the performer never granted.

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