Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1535197
sagaftra.org | Spring 2025 | SAG -AF TR A 67 Above, SAG-AFTRA Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez speaks at the 2025 Global IP Exchange USA event on Jan. 28 in Austin, Texas. Below, V Spehar speaks with SAG-AFTRA NED & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland during a fireside chat at the 2025 LIT Summit in Las Vegas. Bottom, SAG-AFTRA EVP Linda Powell moderates a panel on negotiating A.I. contracts at the Summit. A rtificial intelligence continues to be at the forefront of many members' concerns. The union's initiatives in this area are strategic and multi-faceted, evolving to address performers' needs. It's essential work, especially when it comes to protecting livelihoods in the face of ever-evolving innovation. Whether it's getting bills through the legislative process, strategizing with other unions, achieving new language in contracts or educating the public about tech's risks and benefits, SAG-AFTRA's member leaders, staff, negotiating committees and Government Affairs and Public Policy team are taking action on multiple fronts. A.I. Put on Blast Speaking at TheGrill 2024 conference held in Los Angeles on Oct. 8, SAG-AFTRA General Counsel Jeffrey Bennett discussed the union's ongoing labor dispute with video game companies. Explaining why all performers should earn equitable wages and have their likenesses and work protected, Bennett said, "If you are bringing people in to perform, to animate the characters in your video game, you need those human performances. Don't then turn around and replicate those and use them across characters and across other video games without consent for each and every time you want to use that person's performance." Later that month, Bennett travelled to Arlington, Virginia, to speak at VOICE & A.I. 2024, a conference bringing together leaders in the A.I. field. Explaining SAG-AFTRA's work around digital replicas, Bennett said, "We have worked very hard on the state and federal level to shore up voice and likeness protections. So people can protect themselves from unauthorized replication, commercial misappropriation, performance replacement, sexual deepfakes — those kinds of things." Catching Workers Rights in 4K at CES In its sixth year, the Labor Innovation & Technology Summit held in Las Vegas in conjunction with CES in January has now become both a tradition and an important means for SAG-AFTRA to collaborate with other unions in its ongoing efforts to ensure workers' rights are protected as tech developments become more powerful. Co-founded by SAG-AFTRA, the AFL-CIO and the AFL-CIO Technology Institute, the LIT Summit's mission is to bring together leaders from the labor movement to discuss how labor advocates can best prepare for the changes ahead. During the session on negotiating A.I. contracts, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director & Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said, "CES has helped us identify these trends coming down the road and sort the wheat from the chaff … I've personally been coming for the last 21 years." For SAG-AFTRA, addressing A.I. didn't begin in 2023 with the TV/ Theatrical negotiations and strike — it was an issue the union has been tracking for a long time. "We really started looking at A.I. issues almost 10 years ago," Crabtree-Ireland said. "And we started preparing for A.I. well in advance of the negotiations in 2023. We actually made our first presentation on A.I. and the entertainment industry in December of 2022. There was and continues to be a constant evolution." 'A.I.n't' Giving Up the Fight Following the Vegas summit, SAG-AFTRA leaders flew to Sacramento to participate in the Making Tech Work for Workers Conference on Jan. 14. SAG-AFTRA National Innovation and New Technology Committee Vice Chair GETTY IMAGES; RANDY SHROPSHIRE FOR THEWRAP; SHANE O'NEAL FOR SAG-AFTRA SHANE O'NEAL FOR SAG-AFTRA JAMES CROSSLEY SHANE O'NEAL FOR SAG-AFTRA