Tutorials Video

Digital Replicas and Synthetics: What the SAG-AFTRA 2026 TV/Theatrical Summary Says

By Infinite Creation · Professional · ~17 min

A 1960s mid-century comic book style editorial illustration showing a performer reading a consent form across a desk from a producer holding a folder, with a screen behind them showing a dotted outline of a figure beside a solid one.

Overview

A digital replica is a computer-made copy of a performer's face, body or voice. A synthetic is a generated performer with no human source. Both now sit inside the SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical contracts, which cover film and television performers. This guide is for producers, post supervisors, VFX teams and performers who need to know what the 2026 TV/Theatrical agreement says before a tool touches a performance. It follows SAG-AFTRA's own "Summary of Tentative Agreement", dated 11 May 2026, and cites its section numbers. It is a summary of a tentative agreement. It predates the ratification vote and is not the contract, and the guide says what that leaves open. It is not legal advice.

What You Need

The union summary this guide follows, and ideally the contract text, because defined terms live in the contract
Confirmation that the SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical agreement applies to your production
The performer's engagement documents and any consent already given
A lawyer or union representative for anything that decides money or consent

Steps

Confirm this agreement applies

The summary is for the TV/Theatrical Contracts 2026. Its term runs from 1 July 2026 through 30 June 2030. Unless a section says otherwise, terms take effect on the later of 1 July 2026 or the first Sunday after the business day on which the union gives notice of ratification. Other SAG-AFTRA contracts, non-union work and work outside the United States are not covered by this summary.

Name the kind of digital asset you are making

The summary uses three terms. An Employment Based Digital Replica is made in the course of a performer's engagement. Section 39A says it is made from the same photography captured for the picture, with no scan, and then still counts, with every protection. An Independently Created Digital Replica is one the producer did not create, such as a replica the performer made earlier (39C). A Synthetic is a generated performer with no human source (39K). Each carries different duties.

Give a reason before you ask to scan

Section 39J says producers must have an articulable business reason when asking a performer or background actor to consent to a scan for an Employment Based Digital Replica. It adds that producers are not required to disclose the reason automatically during engagement. Write the reason down before the request.

Check digital alterations against the script the performer saw

Under the current contract, the summary says, producers use digital replicas to alter a performance without new consent if the alteration stays within how the work was "scripted, performed and/or recorded". Section 39B clarifies that "scripted" means only a script given to the performer on or before the latest date they performed the scene. A later or unseen script no longer counts.

Get consent before dubbing with a replica

The summary says the current contract lets producers use a digital replica to render a performance into another language without consent, and that the tentative agreement reverses that (39D). The reversal applies to motion pictures commencing principal photography on or after 1 July 2027. Plan localisation consent for those productions at the start, not at delivery.

Pay and credit independently created replicas

For an Independently Created Digital Replica, the summary says consent and benefit fund contributions are already required and pay is freely bargained. The tentative agreement sets the day performer rate as the minimum payment and requires residuals where the replica creates a performance that would earn a natural performer residuals (39C).

Secure the replica and keep responsibility if you sell it

Producers must limit access to replicas to people with a legitimate business need and use commercially reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorised access, use or copying (39H). If a producer transfers ownership, it stays responsible for the protections unless the union approves the financial responsibility of the new owner and that owner agrees in writing to comply. The union responds within 21 days and does not unreasonably withhold approval (39I).

Respect the fixed limits

The summary lists limits that need no judgement. No use of a replica during a strike where consent is required and the performer is able to refuse services (39G). No use of fingerprints, palmprints or iris scans for anything unrelated to the picture, except security technology such as a door scanner (39E). No replica of a minor depicted as nude or in simulated sexual activity, including by ageing up or de-ageing (39F and 43E). A producer that licenses performances to a non-affiliated third party for AI training of a public-facing generative system must tell the union in writing and, on request, meet to discuss it (39L).

Pro Tips

Treat consent as a project step with a date, not a clause in the deal memo nobody revisits.
Keep a log of every tool that creates or alters a performance, with the version and the scene.
Ask the union or a lawyer about any term the summary uses without explaining. The summary does not carry the contract's definitions.

Knowledge Base

The Longer Answer

The summary changes who is allowed to do what with a performance, so the terms matter more than the tools.

Synthetics and the "significant additional value" test

The summary defines a Synthetic as a digital asset created through generative artificial intelligence, used in a role for which no natural performer has been hired, intended to and does create the clear impression that it is a natural performer, but not recognisable as an identifiable natural performer and not voiced by a natural person. Producers commit to a principle strongly favouring human performances, to human performers continuing to perform covered services, and to not intending to use a Synthetic in a human role unless it brings "significant additional value". The summary lets digital replication be considered human performance for that test, so a producer must show the Synthetic adds value compared with what a replica does. A strict notice and bargaining schedule applies, and the union is entitled to arbitrate for damages not limited to what a natural performer would have been paid (39K).

What the summary does not tell you

It is a summary of a tentative agreement dated 11 May 2026. It gives the voting dates, from 14 May to 4 June 2026, and does not report the result. Our research notes record, from secondary summaries, that members ratified it. That does not appear in the summary, and the final contract text might differ. The summary uses terms such as Employment Based Digital Replica without defining them, and it says nothing about UK, European Union or other law, other union contracts, or non-union productions.

Where This Fits

Consent and notice duties for digital replicas are paperwork attached to the schedule and budget, which Production Management covers from breakdown to the day on set.

FAQ

Q: Does this ban AI-generated performers?
A: No. The summary says producers do not intend to use a Synthetic in a human role unless it brings significant additional value, with notice and bargaining duties and a right to arbitrate. It does not use the word ban.

Q: Does a performer have to consent to a voice replica for dubbing?
A: The summary says yes, for motion pictures commencing principal photography on or after 1 July 2027 (39D). Before then, the summary describes the current rule as allowing it without consent. Check the contract and your production's dates.

Q: Is the summary the final contract?
A: No. It is a summary of a tentative agreement from 11 May 2026. Read the ratified contract for the binding terms.

Vocabulary

Employment Based Digital Replica The summary's term for a digital replica made in the course of a performer's engagement. Section 39A says it still counts when made from the picture's own photography without a scan. The contract, not the summary, gives its full definition.

Independently Created Digital Replica A digital replica the producer did not create itself, such as one the performer made earlier. The summary says its use needs consent and fund contributions, at least the day performer rate, and residuals in some cases.

Synthetic A digital asset created through generative artificial intelligence and used in a role for which no natural performer was hired, which looks like a natural performer without being an identifiable one. The summary gives producers notice and bargaining duties.

Principal photography The main period of filming a picture, as distinct from preparation and later pickup shots. The summary ties the dubbing consent rule to pictures whose principal photography begins on or after 1 July 2027.

Sources

One document was read in full on 8 October 2026: the union's own summary of the tentative agreement. It is named and not linked, because we hold it as a file and have not read a page at a web address. Checked 8 October 2026.

SAG-AFTRA, Summary of Tentative Agreement, TV/Theatrical Contracts 2026, dated 11 May 2026. Sections 1, 39 and 43E are cited by number. It states the term of 1 July 2026 through 30 June 2030, the effective-date rule, and the artificial intelligence provisions on replicas, dubbing consent, synthetics and training licences. It lists member voting from 14 May to 4 June 2026 and does not report the result.

The full contract was not read, so defined terms are not quoted. The ratified text might differ from the tentative agreement. The result of the vote is not in the document. Secondary summaries were not used, because some of them describe the 2023 settlement. This page is not legal advice, and other union contracts, non-union work and law outside the United States are not covered.