Archive research guide · Revised 2026-09-22
AI disputes in creative labour concern particular voices, likenesses, performances and conditions of use. A starting point is to ask what a permission covers, who decides, how compensation works and whether workers can bargain. This guide places collective agreements, public hearings and a judicial case alongside one another, preserving differences between places, industries and legal relationships.
Digital replicas and synthetic performers: what needs to be distinguished?
Replicating a voice or likeness, using an existing performance for model training, and producing a synthetic performer are different activities. Identify the object, parties, agreement coverage and stated uses in each source. The archive’s SAG-AFTRA screen case connects the 2023 strike with agreement materials from 2026. These records trace changes in terms and bargaining; they do not establish identical protections for all performers.
From strike to agreement: distinguish announcement, ratification and implementation
The 2023 screen strike and the 2024–2025 video-game performers’ strike concern separate contract negotiations. A union’s tentative-agreement announcement, member ratification and implementation should be read as distinct stages. The game case’s 2025 ratification announcement documents the union’s account of approval and the strike’s end; it does not independently establish compliance with consent and compensation requirements in every use of a replicated performance.
Public hearings and a voice-rights case: different institutional routes
The Brazilian Dublagem Viva records connect dubbing workers’ demands, delivery of a manifesto and a congressional hearing. The Beijing AI-generated voice case records a first-instance decision through judicial information materials. Public discussion is not completed legislation, and a first-instance case is not a universal rule. Comparison should preserve the demands, procedures, scope of the decision and unresolved follow-up in each record.
Brazil’s Dublagem Viva / Dubbing and AI regulation ↗
Beijing AI-generated voice / Voice actor’s personality-rights case ↗
How can consent, compensation and control be researched?
Ask of each source: which use does consent cover, and are training and outputs distinguished? Who grants permission and who is compensated? How are scope and duration described, and what process addresses disputes? These are comparative questions, not assumptions that every source supplies answers. Prioritise original agreements, hearing records and judicial materials, separating provisions, parties’ interpretations and evidence of implementation.
SAG-AFTRA / 2023 screen strike and digital replicas ↗
SAG-AFTRA / Video-game performers’ labour dispute ↗
Brazil’s Dublagem Viva / Dubbing and AI regulation ↗
Beijing AI-generated voice / Voice actor’s personality-rights case ↗
This research guide is written by the archive. Its Chinese and English texts may include AI-assisted translations and may not yet have received independent human review. Check specific historical claims and rights information against each record’s original-language sources.
Cases & events: begin with the evidence
SAG-AFTRA / 2023 screen strike and digital replicas ↗
2023-07-14 · United States
SAG-AFTRA’s film and television contract strike takes effect
The strike order requires covered work to stop from 00:01 Pacific Time on July 14, 2023; prohibited activity includes consenting to the creation and use of digital replicas.
2023-11-08 · United States
SAG-AFTRA announces a tentative agreement
The negotiating committee announces approval of a tentative agreement and says it includes AI-related consent and compensation protections.
SAG-AFTRA / Video-game performers’ labour dispute ↗
2024-07-26 · United States
SAG-AFTRA video-game performers’ strike takes effect
According to SAG-AFTRA’s retrospective account, the strike against the relevant game companies took effect on July 26; AI protections for replicated performances were among the disputed bargaining issues.
2025-07-09 · United States
SAG-AFTRA members ratify a video-game agreement and end the strike
SAG-AFTRA announces that members approved the new Interactive Media Agreement with 95.04% voting in favour, ending the video-game strike that had already been suspended pending ratification.
Brazil’s Dublagem Viva / Dubbing and AI regulation ↗
2024-02-01 · Brazil
TV Cultura reports Dublagem Viva’s demands and voice actors’ statements
TV Cultura reports Dublagem Viva’s call to regulate AI dubbing. Interviewed voice actors discuss jobs, payment for voices and artistic interpretation.
2024-05-08 · Brazil
Dublagem Viva manifesto delivered to the culture minister at a Chamber of Deputies meeting
The Chamber's official stenographic record shows Aliel Machado presenting Brazilian dubbing workers' concerns over contracts, labour and AI, and delivering the Dublagem Viva manifesto to Culture Minister Margareth Menezes. The record explicitly notes that delivery took place.
Beijing AI-generated voice / Voice actor’s personality-rights case ↗
2024-04-23 · China
Beijing Internet Court rules in an AI-generated voice personality-rights case
According to a judicial information notice, Beijing Internet Court’s first-instance ruling found that an identifiable natural person’s voice rights could extend to the AI voice at issue.
Further reading & citation
This page is a selection and reading path, not an exhaustive history. Cite the relevant record and original source for specific claims. To cite this guide, give its title, URL and access date.
Explore the full event chronology ↗