House Bill 418
By: Representatives Schofield of the 63rd, Carpenter of the 4th, Tran of the 80th, Davis of the
87th, and Scott of the 76th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 2 of Title 39 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
regulation of employment of minors, so as to require the establishment of blocked trust
accounts for minors rendering artistic or creative services in this state; to provide for
definitions; to provide for the Commissioner of Labor to investigate and determine
conditions of employment of child performers prior to the commencement of such
employment; to provide for inspections; to provide for requirements related to blocked trust
accounts for child performers; to provide for requirements related to such accounts for
minors engaged in online content creation; to provide for civil actions and damages; to
require the conditions of employment for a child performer to not be detrimental to such
minor's health, well-being, and education; to provide for scheduling restrictions and for
discretionary exceptions; to provide for related matters; to provide for a short title; to provide
for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Georgia Child Performer Empowerment
and Protection Act."
SECTION 2.
Chapter 2 of Title 39 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to regulation of
employment of minors, is amended by revising Code Section 39-2-18, relating to
applicability of provisions of chapter to minors employed as actors or performers, as follows:
"39-2-18.
<del>(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary, nothing in this
chapter shall apply to any minor employed as an actor or performer in motion pictures or
theatrical productions, in radio or television productions, in any other performance, concert,
or entertainment, or to any minor employed in the making of phonographic records or as
an advertising or photographic model, provided that the written consent of the
Commissioner of Labor must be first obtained.
</del> <ins>(a) As used in this chapter, the term:
(1) 'Artistic or creative services' means services to create, perform, or otherwise
participate in the performing arts and other events or activities designed to entertain
others, whether live or recorded, using any format and any medium, including but not
limited to motion pictures, theatrical productions, radio or television productions, musical
performances or concerts, online content creation, recordings, modeling, and
photography.
(2) 'Blocked trust account' or 'account' means the account provided for in Code
Section 39-2-18.1.
(3) 'Child performer' means a minor who agrees to render artistic or creative services.
Such term includes but is not limited to a minor who is an actor, dancer, musician,
comedian, singer, stunt person, voice-over artist, runway or print model, other performer
or entertainer, songwriter, musical producer, arranger, writer, director, producer,
production executive, choreographer, composer, conductor, or designer. Such term
includes a minor who is engaged in online content creation as provided for in Code
Section 39-2-18.2.
</ins>
<ins>(4) 'Gross earnings' means the total compensation payable to the child performer under
a contract or payable to a third-party individual for the artistic or creative services of the
child performer.
(5) 'Online content creator' means an individual, individuals, company, or other corporate
entity that creates, posts, shares, or otherwise interacts with digital content, video content,
articles, video blogs or vlogs, or images on an online platform in exchange for
compensation. Such term does not include a minor who produces their own content.
(6) 'Online platform' means a digital service that uses the internet to facilitate interactions
between two or more separate but interdependent users. Such term includes any public
website, web application, digital application, mobile application, social network,
advertising network, mobile operating system, search engine, email service, or internet
access service.
</ins> (b) Before the Commissioner of Labor shall give his <ins>or her</ins> written consent, <del>as provided
in subsection (a) of this Code section, he</del> <ins>for a child performer to be employed by or
permitted to work rendering artistic or creative services in this state, he or she</ins> shall
investigate and determine <ins>that:
</ins> (1) <ins>The</ins> <del>That the</del> environment in which the work is to be performed is proper for the
minor;
(2) <ins>The</ins> <del>That the</del> conditions of employment are not detrimental to the health of the minor
<ins>and are compliant with the scheduling restrictions as provided for in Code
Section 39-2-18.3;
</ins> (3) <ins>The</ins> <del>That the</del> minor's education will not be neglected or hampered by his <ins>or her
</ins> participation <del>in any of the activities referred to in subsection (a); and</del> <ins>as a child performer;
</ins> (4) <ins>The</ins> <del>That the</del> minor will not be used for pornographic purposes; <ins>and
(5) The minor's parent or legal guardian has established a blocked trust account
designating the minor as the beneficiary as provided for in Code Section 39-2-18.1.
</ins>
<ins>(c) The Department of Labor shall conduct periodic and unannounced site inspections at
locations where child performers are employed by or permitted to work rendering artistic
or creative services in this state to ensure compliance with the provisions of this chapter."
</ins> SECTION 3.
Said chapter is further amended by adding new Code sections to read as follows:
<ins>"39-2-18.1.
(a) A blocked trust account required to be established by a child performer's parent or legal
guardian shall provide, at a minimum, that:
(1) Except as provided in Code Section 39-2-18.2, at least 15 percent of the gross
earnings of the child performer shall be deposited into the account;
(2) The funds in the account shall be available only to the child performer;
(3) The account shall be held by a trust company, as defined in Code Section 44-5-111;
(4) The funds in the account shall become available to the child performer when the
minor reaches the age of majority or is declared emancipated; and
(5) The account meets the requirements of Article 5 of Chapter 5 of Title 44, 'The
Georgia Transfers to Minors Act.'
(b) The child performer's parent or legal guardian shall provide the child performer's
employer with the information necessary to transfer funds into the blocked trust account.
Once such employer deposits funds into the account, such employer shall have no further
obligation or duty to monitor or account for such funds, and only the trustee shall be
obligated to monitor and account for such funds.
(c) If the child performer's parent or legal guardian fails to provide the child performer's
employer with the information necessary to transfer funds into the blocked trust account
within 30 days after the start of employment, funds that were to be transferred to the
account shall be reported and remitted to the state revenue commissioner in accordance
with Code Section 44-12-214 of the 'Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act.' The state
</ins>
<ins>revenue commissioner shall notify the Commissioner of Labor of the report and remittance
of such funds.
39-2-18.2.
(a) A minor is considered engaged in the work of online content creation when the
following criteria are met at any time during the previous 12 month period:
(1) At least 30 percent of the online content creator's compensated video content
produced within a 30 day period included the likeness, name, or image of the minor.
Such content percentage is measured by the percentage of time the likeness, name, or
image of the minor visually appears or is the subject of an oral narrative in a video
segment as compared to the total length of the segment; and
(2) The number of views received per video segment on any online platform met the
online platform's threshold for the generation of compensation or the online content
creator received actual compensation for video content equal to or greater than 10¢ per
view.
(b) All online content creators whose content features a minor engaged in the work of
online content creation shall maintain the following records and shall provide such records
to the minor or such minor's parent or legal guardian on an ongoing basis:
(1) The name and documented proof of the age of the minor engaged in the work of
online content creation;
(2) The amount of content that generated compensation as provided for in subsection (a)
of this Code section during the reporting period;
(3) The total number of minutes of the content for which the online content creator
received compensation during the reporting period;
(4) The total number of minutes each minor was featured in content during the reporting
period;
</ins>
<ins>(5) The total compensation generated from content featuring a minor during the reporting
period; and
(6) The amount deposited into the blocked trust account for the benefit of the minor
engaged in the work of online content creation.
(c) If an online content creator whose content features any minors engaged in the work of
online content creation fails to maintain the records as provided in subsection (b) of this
Code section, the minor or such minor's parent or legal guardian may commence a civil
action to enforce such subsection.
(d) A minor satisfying the criteria provided in subsection (a) of this Code section shall be
compensated by the online content creator. The online content creator shall set aside gross
earnings on the video content including the likeness, name, or image of the minor in a
blocked trust account according to the following distribution:
(1) When only one minor meets the content threshold described in subsection (a) of this
Code section, the percentage of total gross earnings on any video segment including the
likeness, name, or image of the minor that is equal to or greater than half of the content
percentage that includes the minor; or
(2) When more than one minor meets the content threshold described in subsection (a)
of this Code section and a video segment includes more than one such minor, the
percentage described in subsection (a) of this Code section for all minors in any segment
shall be equally divided between the minors, regardless of differences in percentage of
content provided by the individual minors.
(e) If an online content creator knowingly or recklessly violates the requirements provided
for in subsection (d) of this Code section, the minor or such minor's parent or legal
guardian may commence a civil action to enforce the provisions of such subsection. The
court may award to a minor who prevails in any action brought in accordance with this
Code section actual damages, punitive damages, and the costs of such action, including
attorney's fees and litigation costs.
</ins>
<ins>39-2-18.3.
(a) The conditions of employment, including work schedules, for a child performer shall
not be detrimental to such minor's health, well-being, and education and shall include
required breaks for meals, rest, recreation, and education and any request for a break by the
minor, the minor's parent or guardian, or a representative of the Department of Labor when
in the interest of the minor.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary, the scheduling
restrictions for a child performer employed or permitted to work rendering artistic or
creative services shall be, at a minimum, as follows:
(1) No infants between birth and 15 days shall be permitted to be employed or permitted
to work;
(2) A minor between 15 days and six months old shall not start work before 9:30 A.M.,
shall not work more than 20 minutes per day, shall not be at a location for more than two
hours per day, and shall not work past 8:00 P.M.;
(3) A minor between six months and two years old shall not start work before 7:00 A.M.,
shall not work more than two hours per day, shall not be at a location for more than four
hours per day, and shall not work past 7:00 P.M.;
(4) A minor between two and six years old shall not start work before 7:00 A.M., shall
not work more than three hours per day, shall not be at a location for more than six hours
per day, and shall not work past 7:00 P.M.;
(5) A minor between six and nine years old shall not start work before 7:00 A.M., shall
not work more than four hours per day, shall not be at a location for more than eight
hours per day, and shall not work past 10:00 P.M.;
(6) A minor between nine and 16 years old shall not start work before 7:00 A.M., shall
not work more than five hours per day, shall not be at a location for more than ten hours
per day, and shall not work past 10:00 P.M. on a school night or 12:30 A.M. on a
nonschool night; and
</ins>
<ins>(7) A minor who is 16 or 17 years old shall not start work before 7:00 A.M., shall not
work more than eight hours per day, shall not be at a location for more than 12 hours per
day, and shall not work past 10:00 P.M. on a school night or 12:30 A.M. on a nonschool
night.
(c) The Commissioner of Labor is authorized to make limited exceptions to the scheduling
restrictions provided for in paragraph (7) of subsection (b) of this Code section for unique
child performers, circumstances, or events only."
</ins> SECTION 4.
This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law
without such approval.
SECTION 5.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.