SAG-AFTRA strike. This is pretty outrageous... it regards "groundbreaking AI proposal"

[IcyPeas]

My god the "groundbreaking AI proposal" from the AMPTP* is INSANE

"They proposed that our background actors should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day's pay, and their company should own that scan, their image, their likeness and to be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation."

...

Per SAG-AFTRA's lawyer, the studio bosses wanted to be able to scan background actors, pay them for one day of work, and then use AI to generate images of that person not just for that project but any future project, without paying the actor or getting consent.

Link to tweet

*the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) has been the trade association responsible for negotiating virtually all industry-wide guild and union contracts, including those with American Federation of Musicians (AFM); Directors Guild of America (DGA); International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE); International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); Laborers Local 724; Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA); Teamsters, Local #399; and Writers Guild of America (WGA) among others.

The AMPTP, the entertainment industry's official collective bargaining representative, negotiates 58 industry-wide collective bargaining agreements on behalf of hundreds of motion picture and television producers.

[Renew Deal]

1. Is this really an AI story?

It’s outrageous but it’s more about computer graphics than AI.

[highplainsdem]

5. It's AI since they're using AI.

[Renew Deal]

14. It's AI in the broadest definition

But it's no more AI than Star Wars Rogue One is AI. What they're doing isn't traditionally called AI. Throwing around "AI" in this case is misleading.

[FakeNoose]

2. Right now it's the extras and minor characters

... pretty soon it's going to be the stars: the Brad Pitt's, the Margot Robbie's, the Tom Hanks'. The studios are going to digitize everyone and use faked voices and images that have been digitally enhanced.

The worst part is that the actors themselves wouldn't be able to object to certain types of material such as porn, or political crap they don't want their names attached to. This is going to be nightmare folks - the Unions MUST WIN THIS!

Democrats and the Democratic Party must get behind this issue and support these unions.

[jmellman]

3. Of course they want to own the rights

They will use the image as an input to a graphical AI engine and be able to manipulate it in innumerable ways. That actor would lose all rights to any derivative or hat started with his or her image. Of course the studios want to do that — if they could avoid paying actors — or writers or set designers etc — they would and will. Stand with the artists and workers.

[cilla4progress]

4. Let them eat cake.

We know how that one ended.

[highplainsdem]

6. They've been trying the same thing with voice actors. Have been trying to trick them into

contracts that let them use the actor's voice forever.

[Tetrachloride]

7. The actors guild and the writers guild are not playing hardball

So they are on defense

[Mr.Bill]

8. They need to get this out to the public.

Last edited Thu Jul 13, 2023, 09:19 PM - Edit history (1)

Usually actors, writers, professional athletes, etc. don't get much support from the public when they strike because the average Joe thinks all actors make millions of dollars a year, so what are they striking about? Not all strikes are strictly about pay rate.

Of course, I'm sure most actors struggle to pay the rent. Only a tiny percentage reach superstar status. I think I read one time that on a given day, 95% of the people belonging to these unions are not currently working, or at least not working while getting paid for it.

[Xavier Breath]

11. Right, I imagine when most Americans think of actors

they think of Tom Hanks and Jennifer Lawrence, not the the work-a-day actor living paycheck to paycheck by filling in a scene here or there.

[Mr.Bill]

12. I have a nephew who has a four-year degree in the theater arts.

since high school, he has been doing community theater and other acting jobs that don't pay. After he graduated from college he pounded the pavement all over Hollywood looking for work and all he came up with after several years was a role on an obscure TV show where he was on camera for about ten seconds. The part he "played" was a dead body.

Years later, he hasn't given up, has a day job and has found some work on the other side of the camera. It's not easy.

[roamer65]

9. This is going to be a long strike.

[highplainsdem]

10. Kick

[ripcord]

13. James Earl Jones already sold the rights for Star Wars to AI his voice

[dflprincess]

15. Fran Drescher (SAG president) was just on Alex Wagner

talking about what they want to do to background actors.

She didn't name names but said one producer has said they are going to "break the Writers' Guild".

[marble falls]

16. Just plain greedy bastards.