Key Takeaways
- •Creation permission, use permission and secondary training are separate decisions. Name the actual assets, projects, media, territory and periods.
- •California and New York do not automatically invalidate every agreement without counsel or every deal involving substituted work. Read each statute’s complete conditions and exceptions.
- •Authority depends on the actual rights holder and existing grants. An estate appointment or possession of a recording does not clear every right.
- •Identify the applicable CBA, version, signatory and work. Current TV/Theatrical terms include 2026 changes; commercial, interactive and recording agreements have their own requirements.
- •This general workflow supports living adults with capacity and verified deceased-person rights. Minors or uncertain capacity remain unsigned drafts requiring a tailored agreement.
Reviewed for accuracy by the document.com legal team. Educational information, not legal advice.
What Is Digital Replica Agreement?
A digital replica agreement records permission to create or operate a synthetic representation of an identifiable person and use it in defined circumstances. It can cover a voice, face, body movement or another expressly identified attribute. The contractual scope must be specific even though statutes and union agreements use different definitions.
An identity license is only one layer. Copyright in source recordings, music and contributions, publicity rights, privacy and biometric permissions, employment terms and distribution rights may belong to different people. Record what each party actually controls and obtain other necessary permissions.
Why This Matters Now
The 2026 SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical agreement was ratified June 4 and runs from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2030. Applicable contract and production dates still matter. New provisions should not be indiscriminately applied to older work or treated as already effective when they have later transition dates.
Publicity statutes also differ in protected uses, definitions, exceptions and succession. A nationwide distribution plan needs review beyond the state selected in a governing-law clause. The guide is a drafting aid, not an all-state enforceability conclusion.
The Legal Backbone
California Labor Code section 927
The provision addresses a new replica performance fixed on or after January 1, 2025 where all specified conditions apply: substituted personal or professional work, insufficiently specific use subject to the statute’s exception, and the stated lack of qualifying representation. It does not make each condition a separate universal validity requirement. Its text also preserves other provisions and exclusivity grants. Read the actual definition and representation wording; no template choice guarantees enforceability.
New York General Obligations Law section 5-302
New York also uses cumulative conditions for a service-contract provision relating to a new replicated performance. It includes a specificity exception and preserves other contract provisions. Its counsel, conspicuous-writing and definition language differs from California’s. Do not replace the text with a rule that lack of counsel alone always voids the grant, or that a different governing law necessarily avoids protection.
Post-mortem rights and actual authority
California’s relevant statute is Civil Code section 3344.1, not the Probate Code. Its 70-year limit concerns the statutory right, and its replica provisions have specific exceptions. Valid lifetime transfers are not automatically invalidated. New York section 50-f has distinct scope, succession, registration and 40-year rules. These periods do not automatically terminate every copyright, contract or right under another jurisdiction.
Other state publicity protections
Tennessee’s initial ten-year post-death period can continue through commercial exploitation, subject to the statutory nonuse rule; ten years is not a universal maximum. Illinois has current digital-replica provisions, qualifying post-death rights and express exceptions. Washington distinguishes individuals and commercially valuable personalities, with ten- and seventy-five-year periods, and added forged-digital-likeness provisions in 2026. Identify the actual right, holder, place and use instead of treating other states as unregulated.
Current union terms and separate riders
Use the actual applicable agreement and rider. The 2026 TV/Theatrical MOA addresses replica classification, consent, compensation, security, authorized strikes and transfers; a replica made without physical participation is not automatically outside its employment-based use rules. Its new foreign-language voice consent provision has July 2027 contract and production conditions. The 2025 Commercials framework separates creation from generation/use consent and includes notice timing qualifications. This general form is not an official union rider and supplies no universal 48-hour rule or rate formula.
Biometrics, copyright and disclosure
A likeness grant does not replace a required biometric notice or release. Illinois BIPA addresses advance information and consent, retention, disclosure, profit restrictions and security when its definitions and scope apply. Recordings and photographs are not automatically equivalent to voiceprints or identifying face geometry. Copyright and privacy rights remain separate. EU AI Act provider marking and deployer disclosure are also different duties with applicable scope and transition rules; a contract alone performs neither.
Selected state publicity and biometric examples
These sourced examples illustrate different scope and authority questions. They are not a complete survey of all fifty states or the District of Columbia. Review every jurisdiction relevant to the actual activity.
| State | Statute or basis | Scope | What to check | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York | Civil Rights Law 50-f | Defined deceased personalities and performers; qualifying rights run 40 years after death. | Check domicile, covered use, ownership, registration and exceptions. Section 52-c is a separate law. | Read source |
| Washington | RCW 63.60 | Distinguishes individuals from personalities; post-death periods are 10 and 75 years respectively. | Check the statutory classification, assignments, covered acts and exceptions. | Read source |
| California | 2024 digital-likeness enactments | Performer-service and deceased-performer protections address different situations. | Check current operative text and actual contract, representation, uses and dates. | Read source |
| Illinois | BIPA section 15; Publicity Act section 35 | Biometric handling duties and publicity exceptions address different questions. | Determine whether the data and conduct fall within each statute; identify required notices, consent and retention. | Read source |
| Florida | Statutes 540.08 | Covers specified commercial identity uses, authorized consent and exceptions; includes a 40-year post-death limit. | Do not assume the provision always requires written rather than oral consent; identify who can authorize the use. | Read source |
| Nevada | NRS 597.790 | Commercial publicity protection continues for life and 50 years after death, subject to the statutory conditions. | Check consent, ownership and the specific exceptions. | Read source |
| Wisconsin | Statutory privacy; Habush decision | Wisconsin has statutory privacy protection; it is inaccurate to label the state common-law only. | Read the statute and applicable decisions for the particular use; this decision is not a complete current-law survey. | Read source |
| Arkansas | Act 159 of 2025 | Amended likeness, photograph and voice definitions to address AI representations. | Read the act together with the operative publicity statute and the actual activity. | Read source |
A statutory period does not determine every copyright, contract or right under another law. Check operative text, effective dates, existing grants, actual authority and exceptions.
Separate the rights before pricing the deal
Begin with the actual person and grantor, source assets and provenance. Decide whether new capture or creation is authorized or only an existing asset may be used. Then enumerate the permitted performance and distribution: project, scene, script, medium, product, language, audience, territory and term.
Choose whether the deal prohibits substitution or permits specifically described substituted work. Record actual compensation for creation, use, reuse and any royalties. Do not pair an absolute no-substitution warranty with a fee schedule that assumes replacement services.
Keep asset retention separate from use of a finished release. Continuing distribution of an authorized film does not automatically justify keeping a reusable voice model or biometric capture forever. State the actual permissions and exit steps for each category.
When You Need This
An adult performer and production company need a specific agreement for capture, creation and defined new performances.
A studio, advertiser, game developer or music producer needs to align replica use with actual CBA riders and source rights.
An actual post-mortem rights holder is licensing identified rights after verifying succession, prior grants and relevant jurisdictions.
A licensee needs to distinguish secondary training, retained model assets and continued use of an existing finished release.
How to Fill Out Digital Replica Agreement
1. Verify people and authority
Identify the represented person, actual grantor, licensee, signatories, capacity, relevant locations and evidence. For a deceased person, record domicile, death date, transfers, co-owners and registrations. Resolve earlier licenses. Minors or uncertain capacity need a tailored form.
2. Define the asset and separate grants
Select actual attributes and identify sources, models and suppliers. Choose limited new creation or existing-asset use only. Describe each permitted project and alteration, territory, channels and term. Address substituted services expressly.
3. Check representation and the actual CBA
Record real negotiating counsel or actual union coverage, not a name alone. Identify the agreement version, production dates, signatory and replica category. Attach the correct consents and riders and carry their requirements into operations.
4. Set pay, approvals and disclosures
Complete currency, creation and use amounts, due dates, renewal, royalties and usage records. Select consultation, prior approval or only the agreed scope while preserving mandatory procedures. Specify actual synthetic-content disclosures.
5. Control training and personal data
Choose no secondary training or a limited separately authorized arrangement. Record actual purposes, models, recipients, notices, lawful bases, permissions, security, retention and withdrawal. Do not promise automatic deletion from all model weights.
6. Resolve exit and sign the completed documents
Set breach and cure procedures, urgent suspension, generation shutdown, recipient instructions, payment reconciliation and asset handling. Precisely identify any existing releases allowed to continue. Review mandatory law, controlling riders and the final record before signature.
Key Terms Defined
- Digital replica
- A synthetic representation of an identifiable person. The precise statutory or CBA definition depends on the applicable source; this guide does not collapse them into one test.
- Creation permission
- Permission for specified capture or creation work. It does not automatically grant public use or unrelated training.
- Use schedule
- The agreed projects, performances, media, products, territory, duration, alterations and associated payments.
- Post-mortem rights holder
- The person or entity holding the relevant transferable or inherited right, subject to prior grants, succession and the applicable statute.
Related Documents
Replica agreement and appearance release
An appearance release concerns defined use of captured material. A replica agreement addresses synthetic performances and the permissions, pay and controls needed for them. Check the actual language instead of assuming one title covers the other.
Identity license and copyright license
Rights in a person’s identity and rights in recordings, compositions or other works are distinct. Secure the required permissions from the actual holders of each.
Legal Authorities & Sources
This page is grounded in primary law. The statutes and official resources below are the authorities behind the guidance above. Verify the current text of any statute before relying on it.
- California AB2602 chaptered statutory text; official portal unavailable, legislative-text mirror
- New York General Obligations Law5-302 current official text
- California Civil Code3344.1 January2026 statutory mirror
- California SB1111 chapter862 enacted text, effective-date review required
- California Assembly2025 chaptered bill summary including SB683
- New York Civil Rights Law50-f current December2025 revision
- Tennessee ELVIS Act enacted record and legislative summary
- Illinois Right of Publicity Act current consolidated text
- Illinois digital replica exceptions, section35
- Washington current Personality Rights Act
- SAG-AFTRA2026 TV/Theatrical ratification and dates
- SAG-AFTRA2026 signed-agreement framework: MOA AttachmentD
- SAG-AFTRA2025 Commercials AI bulletin
- Illinois BIPA section15 current official indexed text
- Copyright Office human authorship report announcement
- Copyright Act ownership and signed transfers
- EU AI Act Article50 provider/deployer transparency
- EU AI Act Article111 existing-system transition
- ICO biometric and special-category distinctions
- Texas current biometric identifier statute
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