California influencers whose content involves their children are now legally required to ensure their children receive a portion of their profits.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law two bills that aim to address concerns about exploitative practices among so-called family vloggers.
“A lot has changed since Hollywood’s early days, but here in California, our laser focus on protecting kids from exploitation remains the same,” said the governor in a press release. “In old Hollywood, child actors were exploited. In 2024, it’s now child influencers.”
Newsom vowed that the two new laws would “protect young influencers on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and other social media platforms.”
The first bill, Senate Bill 764, sets a mandated percentage of earnings the parents of minors featured in online monetized content must set aside for their children. The earnings must be kept in trust accounts for the minors.
State Senator Steve Padilla, the policy’s sponsor, said child content realtors and family vlogging was “an area where we need to catch up, and provide some sort of protection here against exploitation.”
“We’re setting a standard that says, ‘If you’re featuring your children’s lives from the time they take their first steps until they’re about to go to college, and it’s 60 percent of your content and you’re monetizing it, then that should be the level at which, some provision is made for their financial future,’” he said in January, per POLITICO.
The second law, Assembly Bill 1880, expands the Coogan Law, which is named for child actor Jackie Coogan. Discovered by Charlie Chaplin in 1919, Coogan rose to stardom across the country but learned on his 21st birthday that he had not been left with any of his earnings.
“Coogan eventually sued his mother and former manager for his earnings. As a result, in 1939, the Coogan Law was put into effect,” notes SAG-AFTRA.
The law mandates that an employer withholds and deposits 15 percent of a minor’s gross wages in a Coogan trust account within 15 days of employment. Parents are required to supply the account number and a trust must be created to obtain a work permit for the child.
“[On] January 1, 2000, changes in California law affirmed that earnings by minors in the entertainment industry are the property of the minor, not their parents,” added the acting union. “Since a minor cannot legally control their own money, California Law governs their earnings and creates a fiduciary relationship between the parent and the child. This change in California law also requires that 15% of all minors’ earnings must be set aside in a blocked trust account commonly known as a Coogan Account.”
With the new expansion, minors who are employed as content creators are now included under the Coogan Law.
“Child content creators deserve the same protections under the Coogan Law as their counterparts in traditional entertainment,” said Assemblyman Juan Alanis, the bill’s sponsor, in Thursday’s press release. “With this bill, California takes a significant step in protecting the financial rights and well-being of child online influencers by extending critical protections against exploitation and ensuring they receive a fair share of earnings from their content.”
