EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of British players have been “digitized digitally on the set without their informed consent”, according to an open letter from Brit Actors Union Equity, urging the progress of artificial intelligence while returning to the negotiation table with Pact.
The deadline is informed of the British actors Tamin Greig, Alan Davies, Nicola Walker and Wilf Sconge have so far signed the letter, which was published last week.
“We also have no transparency on how our performance, data and personal data are recorded, stored and processed in the context of production and beyond,” wrote Equity, in the letter to pact which has raised almost 1,500 signatures.
The letter occurs one day before equity and the producers’ sales body should sit for another series of negotiations on a set of new collective agreements which has been rumbling for about 12 months, the guarantees of AI proving to be collision. Equity has increased the challenges in recent months, the secretary general re -elected Paul Fleming, saying that the union was “ready for industrial action” if negotiations continue to fail while the union threatened judicial measures to the BBC, ITV, Disney and Pact if the rights of the members are raped in the formation of AI models.
“We write before your negotiation meeting with the shares of the actions on June 25 to express their concern in the face of the lack of progress in securing the protections of AI for artists,” wrote Equity in the open letter. “We believe that this is unacceptable and that the pacts urge to prioritize this crucial area affecting our industry and our livelihoods.” The pact refused to comment.
Using the new American SAG-AFTRA contacts as partial plan, the demand for Equity with PACT is adapted to the implications of the generative AI for different categories of actors, including dubbing and support of artists. Equity said that it had advanced “a constructive proposal”, including “important provisions on AI training, which the union has clearly indicated is a red line in these negotiations”. “We will not accept any agreement that does not grant us key protections for the use of our personal data for the training of AI systems and the creation of performance generated by AI,” he added today.
The negotiated collective agreements govern the vast majority of British television programs and independent films. Adding to the confusion, the separate BBC and ITV agreements with equity did not include guarantees of artificial intelligence because the radiudiffusers did not want to include them until negotiations on equity actions are not resolved. The broadcasters insisted that “the discussion on the provisions of the AI remains firmly on the table”.
This decision comes as the British government considers legislation which would mean that copyright holders must withdraw from their use of their equipment for the formation of generative AI models. A BFI report earlier this month revealed that scripts of more than 130,000 movies and television programs were used to form such models.
