Actors and Commercials: Proposed New Rules for New Media in the US

Actors receive a fee each time a commercial they appear in is aired on television or radio. Traditionally, the actors have been compensated according to the rules set out in the Commercials Contract Collective Bargaining Agreement (CCCB Agreement) between the advertising industry's ANA/AAAA Joint Policy Committee on Broadcast Talent Union Regulations and the actor's union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) or the Screen Actors Guild (SAG). Recently, AFTRA and SAG announced that an agreement extending the Commercials Contract Collective Bargaining Agreement until October 2008 has been reached, but has not yet been ratified by the unions' boards. With the growth of commercials broadcast via the Internet, phones and other new media, AFTRA and SAG included new media concerns in their recent negotiations for the renewal of the CCCB Agreement. If approved, the extension will engage a number of new media initiatives, including:

• The preparation of a joint study that will examine alternative methods to compensate performers for their participation in commercials broadcast via new media. The results of the joint study will be considered in the next round of bargaining;
• Extension of the CCCB Agreement to all commercials that appear in new media (including future platforms to be developed);
• More flexibility for advertisers to edit commercials for the Internet and new media (additional compensation may be required);
• A one-year waiver to allow advertisers to experiment with a shorter cycle of use in the new media and Internet areas; and
• The formation of a New Media Committee comprised of representatives from both the unions and the industry. This Committee will be empowered to make adjustments to the CCCB Agreement to accommodate changing technologies and shifting paradigms within the industry.

For a copy of the joint ACTRA and SAG press release, visit: http://makeashorterlink.com/?M582368AD; or http://www.aftra.org/press/pr_2006_08_04_commercialsagmtstudy.html Summary by: Sue Diaz