The makers of Peppa Pig have been accused of requiring child actors to sign over their voices for use by AI.
Hasbro, the US entertainment giant that acquired the brand in 2019, has reportedly inserted a clause over AI voice reproduction into children’s contracts so they can then be used in advertising.
AI clauses are becoming increasingly common in acting contracts, leading to concern within the industry around blanket licences to clone voices, especially for children who rely on parent or carer consent.
A thousand actors, agents and parents have signed an open letter drawn up by the Agents of Young Performers Association (AYPA).
It condemned AI clauses in children’s contracts, citing the recent example of a “major studio who owns the IP for an international children’s franchise producing a long running animated television series”.
The letter does not directly name Peppa Pig or Hasbro, but industry sources are said to have told Deadline that it refers to the show.
Children should be ‘fully exempt’
AYPA has declined to identify the series and has not revealed the exact wording of the AI clause in question.
The letter wrote: “Where the performer is a child, consent must be treated with the greatest of care.
“Children cannot provide fully informed legal consent and a parent or guardian’s approval should never be used as a blanket licence to capture, clone, train or reuse a child’s voice indefinitely.
“Any agreement involving a child’s voice should be fully exempt from all AI usage.
“No child should have their future professional identity shaped by an AI model created before they were old enough to understand its consequences.
“Their voice should not become a permanent commercial asset before they have the legal and personal capacity to decide for themselves.”