SAG-AFTRA members under the Interactive Media Agreement (IMA) have been threatening to go on strike if game companies were unable to come to terms with suitable protections for the members from AI. Today, SAG-AFTRA made good on that threat, and announced it will go on strike beginning July 26, 2024.
At the beginning of this week, chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA regarding the IMA Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said “Our resolve is unwavering and should not be tested,” before reminding game companies that the 98% vote in favour of strike from September 2023 showed just how determined IMA members are for proper protections against AI in the new deal.
In a statement announcing the strike on the SAG-AFTRA website, the organization laid out the main issue to be “employers refuse to plainly affirm, in clear and enforceable language, that they will protect all performers covered by this contract in their A.I. language.”
SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher added “We’re not going to consent to a contract that allows companies to abuse A.I. to the detriment of our members. Enough is enough. When these companies get serious about offering an agreement our members can live — and work — with, we will be here, ready to negotiate.”
On the other side of the table are game companies like Activision, Insomiac Games, Take-Two Interactive, Blindlight, Formosa Interactive, Llama Productions, VoiceWorks Productions, Electronic Arts, Disney and Warner Bros. Games, who for their part claim that this strike is SAG-AFTRA walking away from the table when they were so close to a deal.
“We are disappointed the union has chosen to walk away when we are so close to a deal, and we remain prepared to resume negotiations,” said Audrey Cooling, a spokesperson for the video game producers party to the IMA in a statement sent to PSU.
Cooling claims that the deal which SAG-AFTRA walked away from has “meaningful AI protections that include requiring consent and fair compensation to all performers working under the IMA,” and that “These terms are among the strongest in the entertainment industry.”
They also point out that “we have already found common ground on 24 out of 25 proposals, including historic wage increases and additional safety provisions,” and says that the proposed deal is “directly responsive” to the concerns of SAG-AFTRA.
Presumably though if that was the case, then a deal would have been declared. SAG-AFTRA also acknowledges that common ground has been found on “many issues important to SAG-AFTRA members,” but rejects that the protections against AI offered in the proposed deal are as meaningful as game companies would have you believe.
In the meantime, SAG-AFTRA says that anyone looking to hire its members for work on video games will need to sign the two interim agreements, the Tiered-Budget Independent IMA, and the Interim IMA or the Interim Interactive Localization Agreement.
“The video game industry generates billions of dollars in profit annually. The driving force behind that success is the creative people who design and create those games,” said Crabtree-Ireland.
“That includes the SAG-AFTRA members who bring memorable and beloved game characters to life, and they deserve and demand the same fundamental protections as performers in film, television, streaming, and music: fair compensation and the right of informed consent for the A.I. use of their faces, voices, and bodies.
Frankly, it’s stunning that these video game studios haven’t learned anything from the lessons of last year – that our members can and will stand up and demand fair and equitable treatment with respect to A.I., and the public supports us in that.”
IMA negotiating committee chair Sarah Elmaleh added “Eighteen months of negotiations have shown us that our employers are not interested in fair, reasonable A.I. protections, but rather flagrant exploitation.”
“We refuse this paradigm – we will not leave any of our members behind, nor will we wait for sufficient protection any longer. We look forward to collaborating with teams on our Interim and Independent contracts, which provide A.I. transparency, consent and compensation to all performers, and to continuing to negotiate in good faith with this bargaining group when they are ready to join us in the world we all deserve.”
Source – [SAG-AFTRA]