Key points
- Voids contract terms allowing digital replica use without informed consent and specific listed uses.
- Requires legal counsel or union representation when digital replica rights are negotiated.
- Companion bill AB 1836 adds posthumous likeness protection for deceased performers.
Summary
California AB 2602, signed in September 2024 and in force from January 2025, provides contract-level protections for performers' digital replicas in the world's largest entertainment production market. It voids any contract term that grants open-ended digital replica use without informed consent and specific listed purposes. Performers negotiating digital replica rights must have access to legal counsel or union representation. A companion bill, AB 1836, extends posthumous likeness protection to deceased performers.
Implications for animation education
California AB 2602 governs the contracts that animation, mocap and screen graduates working in California will actually sign. Production management and professional-practice units should teach its two core requirements: that digital replica clauses must include specific listed uses (not open-ended permissions), and that performers negotiating digital replica rights must have legal counsel or union representation. The companion bill AB 1836, extending posthumous likeness protection to deceased performers, is relevant to historical animation and archival restoration projects. Speculative implication: institutions running industry-placement or co-production programs involving California studios should review their student contract templates against these requirements.
Compliance deadlines
- 2025-01-01 Act in force; contract provisions void from this date
Related items
- Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security Act (ELVIS Act)
- SAG-AFTRA 2025 Interactive Media Agreement: AI Provisions
Source
Source: California State Legislature ↗ (Policy Text)
Primary document: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2602 ↗
Cite this item
California State Legislature (2024). ‘California AB 2602: Digital Replica Contract Protections’, California State Legislature. Available at: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB2602
Your reference manager can also read this page directly: with the Zotero (or Mendeley) browser connector installed, save it straight to your library. Whole-collection exports: RIS, BibTeX, CSL-JSON.