Hasbro’s TV Contracts Allegedly Ask Child Voice Actors to Sign Rights Away for AI Use - The…

A group of talent agents representing child performers has issued an open letter protesting contract clauses that require minors to surrender their vocal rights for use in generative AI. The controversy centers on an international children’s animated franchise, identified by reports as the series Peppa Pig, which allegedly insists on these terms as a condition of employment.

What happened

The U.K.-based Agents of Young Performers Association (AYPA) published an open letter, signed by over 1,000 industry representatives and actors, condemning the inclusion of clauses that allow studios to capture, clone, and train AI models using a child’s voice for all commercial assets. According to the AYPA, the studio presented these terms as a non-negotiable take-it-or-leave-it proposition. The association argues that children cannot provide fully informed legal consent, and that parental approval should not function as a blanket license for the indefinite reuse of a minor's voice.

Concerns raised by the AYPA extend beyond a single production, highlighting a systemic issue where parents are increasingly asked to sign away digital rights for children who are too young to join actors' unions or understand the long-term professional repercussions of AI cloning. While Hasbro, the owner of the Peppa Pig brand, did not deny that the series was the subject of the letter, the company declined to comment on specific contractual negotiations. In their statement, Hasbro noted that they are committed to engaging with evolving industry standards regarding AI in a responsible and transparent manner. The AYPA continues to urge the industry to reject contracts that mandate the indefinite surrender of voice rights, advocating for the total exclusion of AI use in agreements involving child performers.