UK Performers Near Automatic AI Protections Deal

UK film and television performers could be approaching a major change in how artificial intelligence is handled in their contracts, with negotiations over automatic AI protections now at an advanced stage.

The proposed protections would cover transparency, consent and payment when a performer’s voice, likeness or performance is used with AI. They are being negotiated between performers’ union Equity and Pact, the trade body representing independent television and film production companies.

The protections would apply automatically

The significance is that performers would not simply be relying on individual negotiations each time AI becomes part of a production. Equity says it is close to securing protections that would become part of the minimum standards covering performers working under the relevant film and television agreements.

Those protections are expected to address the creation and use of digital replicas, including situations where a performer is scanned or their voice and appearance are reproduced digitally. Consent and remuneration are central to the negotiations, alongside greater transparency over what is being created and how it can be used.

The discussions also include an industry commitment to strongly prefer human performance. That is particularly significant as AI generated characters, synthetic voices and digital doubles become easier to create.

Digital scans have become a major concern

Scanning performers is not itself new. Film and television productions have used digital capture for visual effects, crowd scenes, dangerous sequences and other production work for years.

Generative AI has changed what can potentially happen after that material is captured. A detailed scan of a performer may now have uses far beyond the specific shot or production for which it was originally created.

That has made questions around storage, reuse and permission much more important. Performers increasingly want to know exactly what has been recorded, how long it will be kept and whether it can later be used to create new performances.

Equity has also pushed for controls over the use of performance data to train AI systems. The concern is that recordings or scans created during ordinary production work could potentially become training material without the performer being properly informed or paid.

Tilly Norwood pushed the issue into public view

The latest update arrives around the first anniversary of AI generated performer Tilly Norwood, who was first introduced publicly at the Zurich Film Festival in September 2025.

SoapLandTV has already covered Tilly extensively, including how the character is created, the human team behind her, the developing Tillyverse and plans for future film projects. The new development is not about Tilly herself, but about how quickly the wider entertainment industry has been forced to address similar technology.

AI performers and digital characters no longer feel like a distant idea. Production companies are experimenting with synthetic characters, AI assisted animation, digital doubles and increasingly realistic voice generation while unions try to establish rules before those systems become routine.

UK performers have already shown how strongly they feel

The current negotiations follow sustained pressure from performers over the use of AI. Equity has previously reported overwhelming support among affected film and television members for taking action if adequate protections were not secured.

The dispute has focused particularly on digital scanning, synthetic performers and AI training. Those areas can overlap, but they are not the same thing.

A digital replica recreates a real performer. A synthetic performer may be generated without directly representing one real person, while AI training involves using data to improve or build a model that can later generate new material. Each creates different questions around employment, consent and ownership.

Personality rights are the bigger legal battle

Alongside industry contracts, Equity is also pushing for stronger rights over people’s face, body, likeness and voice.

The union argues that everyone should have clearer control over unauthorized digital replicas, not only professional actors. That would extend the debate beyond a film set into areas including deepfakes, cloned voices and AI generated impersonations.

Existing UK copyright, performers’ rights, privacy and data protection laws can already apply in some situations, but there is no single UK law written specifically to regulate every use of generative AI involving a person’s identity.

That gap is one reason industry agreements matter. Contractual protections can potentially establish standards for professional productions while wider legal debates continue.

The deal is not completed yet

The most important distinction is that these protections have not yet been formally secured. Equity says talks with Pact are advanced and describes itself as close to achieving the first automatic AI protections of this kind for film and television performers.

Until negotiations conclude, the final wording and exact scope could still change. That means performers do not suddenly have a completed new set of contractual AI rights simply because progress has been announced.

What has changed is how close the issue appears to moving from campaign demands into ordinary production contracts.

If agreement is reached, AI clauses covering consent, transparency and remuneration could become a routine part of working in UK film and television rather than something performers have to fight for individually once the technology has already been used.