SAG-AFTRA, Music Artists Coalition and Black Music Action Coalition Demand Employers Stop Harmful Contract Practices in FTC Filing

SAG-AFTRA, Music Artists Coalition (MAC) and Black Music Action Coalition (BMAC) have submitted joint public comments to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asserting that certain contract and employment terms imposed by recording companies, entertainment employers and news outlets harm fair competition and restrict workers from building their careers. 

The Federal Trade Commission invited public comments on contract terms that may be harmful to fair competition, and are seeking terms that may create power assymetries that disadvantage workers. 

Workers from across the entertainment industry have joined together to submit these comments. SAG-AFTRA, MAC and BMAC also continue their advocacy for California’s Free Artists from Industry Restrictions (FAIR) Act, which would outlaw many of the practices highlighted in the FTC submission. The full response to the FTC can be read HERE.

“Entertainment and broadcast employers take advantage of workers every single day,” said SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. “It is time to put an end to one-sided contract terms that restrict job opportunities, earnings and worker mobility. We won’t stand for unfair treatment and we will always fight to ensure entertainment and broadcast workers get a fair shake. That’s why we are filing these comments and working to pass legislation like the FAIR Act in California."

“Countless managers, artists and independent labels have gone on record with poignant comments about this issue and the Fair Act,” said the MAC and BMAC Boards. “Trying to encapsulate this dense issue into one quote does a disservice to the thoughtful points of view from each of them, so we instead strongly encourage everyone to take a moment and read their quotes.”

The FAIR Act will modernize the law to reflect how film, television, and music are made and distributed today, limiting the length of time that production studios and record labels are able to unilaterally hold actors and recording artists off the market. The legislation also critically extends the Seven Year Statute, which prohibits employers from trapping workers in long-term contracts, to recording artists, who to date have not benefited from the law.

The rise of new platforms and distribution models has afforded consumers more choices than ever to access the content they want. Yet the artists who bring joy to consumers remain constrained to burdensome and archaic contracts. Production studios and record labels routinely hold artists off the market, unpaid, for extended periods of time using contractual restrictions that originated before the 1960s.

Two boilerplate clauses in television and recording contracts — options and exclusivity — keep artists from pursuing those opportunities and allow producers and studios to keep performers off the market, uncompensated, for prolonged periods. Additionally, record labels hold recording artists to long term contracts from which they cannot escape thanks to a 1987 loophole in the Seven Year Statute, a labor law which, rightly, prohibits almost every California employer from signing individuals to contracts longer than seven years.

Recording artists and actors are not the only workers who suffer from burdensome contracts. Television and radio broadcasters navigate boilerplate non-compete clauses in their employment agreements that were formerly only reserved for highly-compensated and high profile broadcasters. These clauses similarly restrict these broadcasters from pursuing the opportunities they want, resulting in wage and salary stagnation. These low salaries drive talent away from the industry or frequently force workers to move away from their families to lower cost housing markets. SAG-AFTRA has proposed limitations on these agreements through collective bargaining, however, employers continue to resist any limitations on these agreements.

Additionally, broadcast employers enforce one-sided definite-term contracts — keeping broadcasters bound to long-term contracts and only allowing the employer to terminate. This freedom to terminate the contract gives the employer immense power over the broadcaster, allowing employers to constantly look out for lower cost alternatives. This puts downward pressure on wages and keeps broadcasters from earning the money they deserve. 

About SAG-AFTRA

SAG-AFTRA represents approximately 160,000 actors, announcers, broadcast journalists, dancers, DJs, news writers, news editors, program hosts, puppeteers, recording artists, singers, stunt performers, voiceover artists and other entertainment and media professionals. SAG-AFTRA members are the faces and voices that entertain and inform America and the world. A proud affiliate of the AFL-CIO, SAG-AFTRA has national offices in Los Angeles and New York and local offices nationwide representing members working together to secure the strongest protections for entertainment and media artists into the 21st century and beyond. Visit SAG-AFTRA online at SAGAFTRA.org.