Legislation to protect the rights of child influencers will soon be introduced in California. If passed, the bill would protect the monetary rights of influencers under the age of 18.
Senator Steve Padilla (D-San Diego) announced he would submit an amendment to the language in Senate Bill 764 in order to require that content creators who feature minor children in at least 30% of their content must set aside a proportionate percentage of the earnings from that content. If the legislation passed, the earnings would be set into a trust that is available to the children once they turn 18.
Padilla told Teen Vogue it’s “long past time that we put some framework in place to look out for [child influencer’s] finances and prevent them from being exploited. California, which is the largest state in the country by population, should be leading on this… and create a framework that builds on the stuff that was done in the early 20th century with regards to child actors.”
The planned legislation is billed as an update to California’s Coogan Act, which is the landmark legislation named after the silent film star Jackie Coogan. Coogan worked through his childhood and upon reaching adulthood, realized he didn’t have access to any of the money he had worked for as a child star because those earnings solely belonged to the parents of minor children. Coogan went on to sue his mother and former manager and the Coogan Law was put into effect in 1939, “to protect future young actors from finding themselves in the same terrible situation that Jackie Coogan was left in.” Though child influencers may find themselves doing similar work as child actors do, they have so far been left largely unprotected legally.
Just last week, Teen Vogue shared the exclusive story that Delegate Jazz Lewis of Maryland is planning to introduce legislation in the new year which would not only protect the monetary considerations of child influencers but also address privacy concerns. Similar legislation has also been introduced in Washington State, though it hasn’t progressed past the House of Representatives. Illinois is currently the only state in the country that has legal protections for child influencers.
