SACRAMENTO — Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 764, the Children’s Content Creators Rights Act, into law. The bill, authored by Sen. Steve Padilla (D-San Diego), will ensure that content creators under the age of 18 get fair financial benefits from the use of their image.
“California has a long legacy of protecting children’s artists from economic abuse,” said Senator Padilla. “It is critical that we adapt these historic protections to keep up with the natural evolution of entertainment. “This law once again puts California at the forefront of protections for minors in one of our key industries.”
According to Goldman Sachs Research, the influencer economy was worth approximately $250 billion in 2023 and is expected to nearly double that figure over the next five years to reach $480 billion.
With the rise of social media platforms focusing on short-form videos and the greater ease of monetizing content, barriers preventing aspiring content creators from entering the market have been removed, leading to an increase in those who create content with the intention of monetizing it.
Senate Bill 764 requires content creators who feature minors in at least 30% of their content to reserve 65% of a proportionate percentage of total gross profits in a trust account that the minor can access when he reaches adulthood.
The legislation reflects the historic financial protections that California established with the Coogan Act in the 1930s, which became the national standard to better safeguard the economic future of actors under the age of 18.
However, Coogan’s protections only extend to child performers under contract. Because parents do not need to draft contracts to record or publish videos of their family, children who appear in these publications are not guaranteed access to the profits generated by their image and participation.
“It’s inspiring to see legislation protecting a new generation of child artists flourishing in California,” said Chris McCarty, founder of Quit Clicking Kids, an advocacy group that was instrumental in passing similar legislation in Illinois. “The financial protections extended to traditional child actors should be extended to child stars of monetized social media accounts, and California is taking the first steps to implement that with SB 764.”
