HB418: HB418 Georgia Child Performer Empowerment and Protection Act; enact

Georgia law currently exempts minors who act, model, or perform from most child labor rules as long as the Commissioner of Labor consents to the work. This bill rewrites that exemption. It keeps the Commissioner's role in approving conditions of employment, but adds new requirements: before a child performer can work, their parent or guardian must set up a blocked trust account holding at least 15 percent of the minor's gross earnings, managed by a trust company and unavailable to the child until adulthood or emancipation. The bill also extends protections to minors featured in online content (such as family vlogging or influencer channels), requiring content creators to track how much a minor appears on camera and set aside a share of earnings for them, with civil lawsuits available if creators do not comply. It sets detailed hour and time-of-day limits for child performers by age group, from newborns to 17-year-olds, and lets the Commissioner grant limited exceptions for older teens. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.

• Requires a child performer's parent or guardian to open a blocked trust account holding at least 15 percent of the minor's gross earnings before the minor can work.
• Extends child performer protections to minors featured in online content creation (such as vlogs and social media videos), not just traditional acting or modeling.
• Requires online content creators to track and report how much a minor appears in monetized content and to deposit a share of earnings into a trust account for that minor.
• Allows a minor or their parent to sue an online content creator who fails to keep required records or fails to fund the trust account, with actual damages, punitive damages, and attorney's fees available.
• Sets detailed daily work-hour and time-of-day limits for child performers based on age, from infants to 17-year-olds.
• Directs the Department of Labor to conduct periodic, unannounced site inspections of locations where child performers work.

Children who work as actors, models, musicians, dancers, or other performers in Georgia; their parents and guardians; talent employers and production companies; online content creators and family vloggers who feature minors; trust companies that hold the new accounts; and the Department of Labor, which approves employment and inspects worksites.

Families of child performers and young online influencers would face new financial and recordkeeping obligations, but the minors themselves would gain guaranteed savings, legal recourse if earnings are not set aside, and firmer limits on how many hours and how late they can work depending on their age.

• Section 2 rewrites O.C.G.A. § 39-2-18 to define 'artistic or creative services,' 'child performer,' and 'online content creator,' and requires the Commissioner of Labor to confirm safe conditions, non-detriment to education, and a funded trust account before work begins.
• Section 2 also requires unannounced Department of Labor site inspections at locations where child performers work.
• Section 3 creates O.C.G.A. § 39-2-18.1, requiring at least 15 percent of a child performer's gross earnings go into a blocked trust account held by a trust company until the minor turns 18 or is emancipated.
• Section 3 creates O.C.G.A. § 39-2-18.2, defining when a minor is 'engaged in online content creation' (based on percentage of video content and view thresholds) and requiring online creators to keep earnings and appearance records and fund a trust account for the minor.
• Section 3 allows a minor or parent to sue an online content creator for failing to keep records or fund the account, with actual damages, punitive damages, and litigation costs available.
• Section 3 creates O.C.G.A. § 39-2-18.3, setting minimum work-hour and curfew limits by age group, from a ban on employing infants under 15 days old to an eight-hour daily cap for 16 and 17 year olds.
• Section 4 makes the Act effective immediately upon the Governor's signature or upon becoming law without signature.

1. 2025-02-18House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-13House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-12House Hopper (House)

• Kim Schofield (D, HD-063)Primary sponsor
• Kasey Carpenter (R, HD-004)
• Long Tran (D, HD-080)
• Viola Davis (D, HD-087)
• Sandra Scott (D, HD-076)

• child performers
• child labor law
• online content creators
• trust accounts
• kid influencers