SAG-AFTRA Signs Deal With AI Tech Company Replica Studios To Allow “The Use Of Digital Voice Replication In The Video Game Industry”
Spencer Baculi
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In a major development in the ongoing battle over the use of automated technology in the creation of human art, a new agreement signed by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists will now allow for video game developers to make use of AI voice actors.
As announced by SAG-AFTRA during the opening hours of the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show, this new deal establishes a new set of guidelines through which the union’s voice actors, should they so choose, can work with AI voice technology company Replica Studios to license out their pipes for digital replication in video games.
Elaborating on the deal’s history in a message to its members, the guild explained “SAG-AFTRA members including those represented by your Interactive Media Negotiating Committee — many of whom are actors with significant and diverse experience performing in games, including in VO roles – were deeply involved in the negotiation of this agreement.”
“It is important to note that the contract was specifically tailored to the needs of voice actors, ensuring informed consent and proper compensation terms that are unique to this set of performers,” they continued. “After an exhaustive negotiating process, we achieved our goals in this agreement, and the committee unanimously approved it.”
The guild also made it a point to clarify that this agreement “is not our Interactive Media Agreement (IMA) itself.”
“We continue to negotiate with the major video game companies to achieve the protections we need in that agreement, including A.I. protections, and the strike authorization we have already secured remains a tool to be deployed in that negotiation if needed,” the guild asserted.
Per the agreement, developers who seek to use such ‘digital replications’ must not only agree to pay actors a situation-specific minimum recording fee, with four-hour a day sessions costing $956.57 and 6-hour days sitting at $1,914.25, but also abide by a new set of protective provisions regarding the use of AI voice technology in the creation of both “digital voice replicas” and “foundational voice models”.
In terms of the former – its subject defined by the agreement as “a Voice Model trained on recordings ofspecific individual(s) and has individually-identifiable unique characteristics (such as sound, tone,rhythm, or cadence) that remain consistent and recognizable when used to synthesize speech” – developers seeking to create one such replica must both “obtain informed consent” from an actor to use their voice and “provide Performer(s) and, if applicable, their professional representative(s) a full and forthright description of the recording session and the Development Use prior to negotiating compensation” for the Development Use”.
Notably, should a developer wish to use an AI replica as “a principal character in a video game” must pay a modified “4-hour session fee per 300 lines of dialogue (or 3,000 words),” and also provide voice actors “the same secondary ‘additional compensation payments‘ required by the IMA when their digital replica is used in a video game.”
Further, a developer will only be allowed to digitally replicate a given voice for a single year, at which time they must again pay the actor the above fees in order to extend their license.
And while the same guideline regarding the informing an actor as to how their voice will be used also applies to the latter – defined as “a Voice Model trained on large volumes of anonymized data files that does not have individually-identifiable unique characteristics (such as sound, tone, rhythm, or cadence) that remain consistent and recognizable when used to synthesize speech” which “is not intended to be user-facing” – its licenses are valid for an extended three-years while its renewal fee is only “one-half of the 4-hour session rate”.
In a statement released alongside the news, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher asserted explained of the guild’s reasoning behind the deal, “Artificial intelligence has dominated the headlines, and for most performers, the best protection against the unauthorized digital simulation of their voice, likeness and/or performance is a SAG-AFTRA contract. We are so happy to partner with Replica Studios, because this is a great example of AI being done right.”
Likewise, the guild’s National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland asserted,”Recent developments in AI technology have underscored the importance of protecting the rights of voice talent, particularly as game studios explore more efficient ways to create their games.”
“With this agreement, we have achieved fully informed consent and fair compensation when it comes to the use of our members’ voices and performances,” he added. “We are proud to work with Replica in leading the way to make it easy for these companies to access SAG-AFTRA’s world-renowned talent in an ethical manner that ensures consent and fair compensation for their contributions. This agreement also paves the way for other companies to follow their lead.”
Rounding out this set of post-announcement statements was Replica Studios CEO Shreyas Nevas, who in his own message to the union exclaimed, “Replica is proud to partner with SAG-AFTRA to introduce an ethical approach to the emerging use of generative AI.”
“We are excited by the new opportunities this opens up for world-leading AAA studios who can now access the benefits of Replica’s AI voice technology while knowing that talent is recognized and compensated fairly for the use of their likeness,” said Nivas. “Our voice actor agreements ensure that game developers using our platform are only accessing licensed talent who have given permission for their voice to be used as a training data set, as opposed to the wild west of AI platforms using unethical data-scraping methods to replicate and synthesize voices without permission.”
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