No child should be bound for life by a contract they never chose. Across the United States, children working in entertainment — from commercials and TV to modeling and print — are often signed to contracts by their parents or guardians that grant companies the right to use their image, voice, and likeness in perpetuity. This means that children, even as young as newborns, could sign their likeness away forever for a single job, even with minimal or no pay. These contracts often cover all media, current and future; unlimited geographic reach; and lifetime use, including in AI or synthetic media. A child’s voice or face could be reused, digitally altered, or cloned by artificial intelligence long after they leave the industry or grow up, without their awareness or control.

This practice is not just outdated. It is exploitative.

We are calling on lawmakers nationwide to pass the Protect Child Performers Act. The Protect Child Performers Act (PCPA) is a legislative proposal that would ban perpetual image, voice, and likeness rights clauses in entertainment contracts for minors; limit all usage rights to a maximum of three years, with mandatory renegotiation; require separate, explicit permission for AI training, synthetic replication, or digital voice use; provide minors the right to revoke or renegotiate contracts when they reach the age of majority; and introduce model contract language for ethical industry adoption across states.

If these contracts remain unchanged, children will continue to lose control over their identities at a time when artificial intelligence and deepfake technology make it easier than ever to replicate voices and faces. A single commercial shoot today can become an endless digital asset used decades later, in new contexts, by companies the child never worked for. This creates not only financial and reputational risk but a complete erosion of personal agency for the next generation of performers. 

We demand legislative action and industry reform. This petition asks lawmakers, industry leaders, and advocacy organizations to act now to protect the digital rights of minors in the entertainment industry, end the use of perpetual and open-ended image rights, and set clear, ethical limits that keep pace with AI and media innovation.

Sign this petition to support the Protect Child Performers Act.

Share it with parents, producers, educators, agents, managers, industry professionals and legal advocates. Contact your state representatives to demand action.

The urgency is clear: the tools for permanent replication already exist, and every day these contracts are signed, more children lose control over their futures. We must act now to ensure that child performers' rights grow with them.

Let’s build a future where contracts grow with the child, not one that defines them forever.