Child Actor AI Voice Outcry Drags ‘Peppa Pig’ into the Mud - Animation Magazine

The Agents of Young Performers Association (AYPA) has published an open letter signed by over 1,000 individuals to protest contract terms requiring child actors to sign over their AI voice rights for an international children’s franchise. The protest targets the animated series Peppa Pig, with critics arguing that children cannot provide informed legal consent for the indefinite commercial use of their synthesized voices.

What happened

The controversy centers on reports that a major studio behind a long-running animated series offered "take it or leave it" contracts to child voice actors. These agreements insist that performers agree to the use of AI, allowing the studio to utilize the child’s voice in all commercial assets within the franchise. The AYPA asserts that parent or guardian approval should not serve as a blanket license to capture, clone, train, or reuse a child’s voice, arguing that these performers should be exempt from AI usage clauses until they reach an age where they can understand the consequences.

Simultaneously, questions regarding AI usage in the franchise have been heightened by a collaboration between Hasbro and ElevenLabs. The companies debuted a demo replica of the Peppa Pig character at the AI+NY summit in June 2024. While Hasbro maintains that the demo was an authorized usage with appropriate permissions, it remains unclear if the voice of the current performer, Harriette Cox, was used in the creation of the model. In response to the open letter, a Hasbro spokesperson stated that the company is aware of the concerns but could not comment on specific negotiations, emphasizing that they are committed to engaging with the issue of AI standards in a responsible and transparent manner. The AYPA maintains that no child should have their future professional identity shaped by an AI model created before they are old enough to manage their own commercial assets.