On Thursday, April 10, the Creators’ Guild of America (CGA) announced that it was releasing its CGA rider: a legal document that outlines various creator rights. In a press release, the CGA describes the rider as “a document asserting and protecting the foundational legal and creative rights of digital content creators.”
Such rights include: granting creators full rights to the content they create, giving creators proper credit for their work, limiting the number of revisions and turnaround times on projects, giving creators access to analytics, and fairer creator payment terms, wherein brands must pay in 90 days or less. Unsurprisingly, the rider also includes rules regarding the use of AI. Per the document, a creator’s name, image, and content can’t be used for AI training or other AI-related projects without permission.
What Else Do We Know About the Rider?
The contract rider has been launched with eleven partners, including Linktree, Whalar Group, Beacons, Collab, Influencer, Influencer Marketing Factory, Creator.co, Creator Society, Triller, One Hundred, and Lumanu. These partners have indicated that they will include this rider on contracts moving forward.
To use the rider, or implement some of its language in their contracts, creators must be members of the CGA. Additonally, partners that accept the CGA Rider are granted the “CGA Sheild,” which the CGA describes as a “trusted designation.”
“Most Creators are independent operators, working with tight budgets and demanding timelines,” CGA Founder and President Daniel Abas said in a statement. “Many are without legal or talent representation, especially early in their careers, and commonly feel pressure to sign any agreement put in front of them, lest they lose a rare opportunity.”
He continued: “As a result, Creators are often at a crippling disadvantage when it comes to negotiating the terms of their work, as outlets like Forbes have noted. . We created the CGA Rider to start to level the playing field. In a perfect world, every Creator would have access to skilled representation. Until that day arrives, CGA members are encouraged to make full use of the Rider.”
