Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1535197
and A.I. Task Force Committee Chair Woody Schultz and Crabtree-Ireland spoke on SAG-AFTRA's efforts as well as the challenges of winning rights and protections around workplace technologies. "We're up against the biggest corporate interests and the biggest political interests that you can imagine, and working together in unity is absolutely where our power comes from," said Crabtree-Ireland. "We're going to have so many challenges on the federal level, [but] in California, we can use public policy to advance collective bargaining and use collective bargaining to advance public policy." California's A.I. Copyright Transparency Act, introduced March 18, would require generative A.I. developers to create an online mechanism permitting copyright owners to request a list of the copyrighted materials used to train a generative A.I. system or model. A similar bill in New York, the A.I. Training Data Transparency Act, introduced March 6, would require the 68 SAG-AFTR A | Spring 2025 | sagaftra.org developers of generative A.I. models to post public documentation of the data, including copyrighted material, used to train the model. For more information on other state bills, see page 37. Because intellectual property protection is an increasingly important issue in the A.I. age, SAG-AFTRA continues to educate and advocate in this area. At the 2025 Global IP Exchange USA event held in Austin on Jan. 28, SAG-AFTRA Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez gave a presentation titled When A.I. Met IP — What In-House Council Can Learn from the SAG-AFTRA Agreement. The talk focused on the 2023 TV/Theatrical Agreement negotiations and contract as a guide for companies beginning or expanding their involvement with generative artificial intelligence for content creation. Rodriguez addressed developing strategies to ensure company compliance, mitigating security risks and necessary ethical issues to consider when advocating for the responsible use of A.I. Lawmakers Take on the Deepfakers On April 9, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher spoke at a press conference celebrating the reintroduction of the NO FAKES Act. If passed, the law would establish a digital replication right giving individuals or their rights holders the exclusive right to authorize the use of a voice or visual likeness in a digital replica. Also backed by our union, the bipartisan TAKE IT DOWN Act, introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz and Amy Klobuchar, passed the Senate on Feb. 13 and the House on Apr. 28. If signed into law by the president, the Tools to Address Known Exploitation by Immobilizing Technological Deepfakes on Websites and Networks Act would prohibit the intentional disclosure of nonconsensual intimate visual depictions, including deepfakes, on interactive computer services. It establishes a process for individuals to notify and request removal of such content from covered platforms, which are defined as websites, online services or applications that primarily provide a forum for user-generated content. It also gives the Federal Trade Commission the authority to enforce violations of the removal process as unfair or deceptive acts or practices. These A.I. Laws Get Our Applause Other SAG-AFTRA-supported federal bills making their way through legislative process include the TRAIN Act, which would help creators protect their copyrighted works if and when they are used to train generative A.I. models. Another bill, the A.I. Labelling Act, would direct the National Institute of Standards and Technology to form a working group to assist platforms in identifying A.I.-generated content. • For the latest on your union and artificial intelligence, visit sagaftra.org/ai. Above, National Innovation and New Technology Committee Vice Chair & A.I. Task Force Committee Chair Woody Schultz speaks at the Making Tech Work for Workers Conference on A.I. and Technology in Sacramento. Above right, from left, SAG-AFTRA Chief Labor Policy Officer & New York Local Executive Director Rebecca Damon moderates a panel on A.I. policy coalition-building with Recording Industry Association of America SVP of Federal Public Policy Tom Clees and SAG-AFTRA Executive Director of Government Affairs and Public Policy Kerri Wood Einertson at the 2025 LIT Summit in Las Vegas. SHANE O'NEAL FOR SAG-AFTRA BROOKE ANDERSON