Actors will be able to licence their “digital voice replicas” to game producers under the agreement with Replica producers.
An agreement has been reached between SAG-AFTRA, the organisation that represents thousands of performers, and an artificial intelligence voice acting platform. The purpose of this agreement is to make it simpler for actors to licence their voice for use in video games. SAG-AFTRA members will be able to collaborate with Replica Studios in order to licence their voice to gaming studios as a result of the agreement, which was unveiled during a press event held at the Consumer Electronics Show 2024.
In a statement, the main negotiator for the union, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, stated that the deal “paves the way for professional voiceover artists to safely explore new employment opportunities for their digital voice replicas.” The partnership comes at a time when Hollywood is still struggling to come to terms with the application of artificial intelligence. Following a strike that lasted for several months, SAG-AFTRA was able to achieve an agreement with Hollywood studios that contained provisions for artificial intelligence. Before adopting an artificial intelligence-generated rendition of an actor’s resemblance, studios are now obligated to compensate the actor (and seek their approval) before using the representation.
A comparable structure appears to be followed by the most recent deal that SAG-AFTRA has reached with Replica Studios. According to Crabtree, the agreements involve the production of what are known as “digital voice replicas” as well as the ways in which game studios and other businesses can make use of these virtual voices. In addition to “limitations on the amount of time that a performance replica can be employed without further payment and consent,” the agreement includes terms for minimum rates, safe storage, and transparency requirements. Additionally, the agreement stipulates that there will be “limitations.”
The agreement does not address the question of whether or not replicas of actors can be utilised for the purpose of training large language models (LLMs). However, the Chief Executive Officer of Replica Studios, Shreyas Nivas, stated that the company is interested in pursuing such an arrangement. According to Nivas, “We have been talking to a significant number of the large AAA studios about this use case.” In addition, he stated that low-level management positions are “not within the purview of this agreement,” but that “we will hopefully continue to work on and partner on” these matters.
A small portion of the video game business is covered by the agreement that SAG-AFTRA has with Replica. In a separate development, the union has authorised a strike in the autumn of last year, and it is currently in negotiations with several of the big game studios. “I certainly hope that the video game companies will take this as an inspiration to help us move forward in that negotiation,” Crabtree said. “It enables us to move forward in that negotiation.”