By: Kiara D. Benac
A person’s childhood is precious. Whether a person would want to grow up in front of a camera for anyone to see, however, is a different story. California passed the Coogan Law in 1939 to protect professional child actors. The law’s name pays homage to a famous child actor who, upon turning twenty-one years old, realized that his mother left him none of his earnings. As a result of the law, parents of child actors must put at least 15% of the child’s earnings into a locked trust, known as a Coogan Account. Parents must also show proof of such a trust account before the child can receive a work permit. As of March 2023, five U.S. states require Coogan Accounts: California, New York, Illinois, Louisiana, and New Mexico.
Although child entertainment labor laws have applied to traditional Hollywood for decades, no such laws apply to children who are the subject of online videos filmed by their parents. The term “vlogging” reflects a video blog and describes people sharing various moments of their lives online. A sub-genre of vlogging emerged on YouTube in 2010 that transformed the general theme of “‘cute kid does stuff’,” which was rooted in viral videos like 2007’s “Charlie bit my finger” and 2009’s “David After Dentist,” to one more akin to the wildly popular family shows on TLC like “Kate Plus 8.” This variety of reality programming showed children growing up in front of the cameras and turned the family into a brand. As content consumption transitioned away from television towards social media, family vlogging channels on YouTube have become one of the most popular genres consumed. However, changing trends and increased concerns for children’s safety have declined the family channel’s viewership.
The nature of family vlogging relies on showcasing young and newborn children for content. As such, filming videos for a family channel raises concerns of exploitation and an uncontrollable audience, rather than just recording memories for the family to enjoy. Family vlogging channels have become a profitable business venture, with earnings in the multi-millions. The channels represented the sixth and seventh highest-earning YouTube channels in 2022. Such channels highlight the controversial concept of “child influencers,” one in which children generate interest in, and revenue from, their content, but who do not have regulated hours nor safeguarded finances. In the status quo, no U.S. federal or state laws exist for child influencers akin to the Coogan Law. Presently, the U.S. is behind countries like France, which enacted a law in 2021 requiring guardians of child influencers to place the earnings into a bank account for the child to access at sixteen years of age. However, Washington state’s recent proposal for House Bill 1627 seeks to become the first state to grant legal protections for child influencers.
The proposed legislation, titled “Protecting the interests of minor children featured on for-profit family vlogs,” would offer financial protections and privacy rights. The bill would require parents to properly compensate their children by ensuring that if a parent generates at least ten cents per view on their family channel, or feature their children on at least 30% of their paid content, then they must designate the money in a separate fund. Once the child turns eighteen years old, the child gains access to the funds they earned. Furthermore, the bill’s provisions would provide the children with the ability to petition to have the content taken down when they reach adulthood.
Many have expressed their support for the protections Washington’s bill would offer, including student activists and former vlogging child stars who have spoken about how their parents’ social media habits continue to affect them. The bill marks a pivotal opportunity for other states and the federal government to follow suit, as it offers a modern solution to a once-unanticipated situation. Child actors may have existed in Hollywood for years before the Coogan Law provided them with legal protections, but social media now makes it possible for virtually any family to exploit their child online from birth.
The nature of sharing content featuring children online has changed a lot since the early days of viral videos. During that time period, people would post content with no expectations of financial compensation. These days, it is unsettlingly common for people to document their pregnancies and start filming their newborn with the intention and purpose of becoming a family channel as a career. These children of family vloggers cannot consent to share their lives online, nor do they understand the long-lasting implications of growing up in front of a camera. These situations become more convoluted when considering the immense financial opportunities that family vlogging may provide. As noted, children were the sixth and seventh highest-earning YouTubers last year, grossing $28 million and $27 million respectively. It may be difficult for parents to truly consider the well-being of their children while simultaneously watching their bank accounts grow so rapidly.
Children should not be the income producer for the whole family and any money they may earn should be safeguarded for their future. In addition to legislative efforts like Washington’s bill, platforms such as YouTube and TikTok should change their policies to better address the risk of child exploitation. For example, the platforms should not allow monetization of a video if more than a certain percentage of the video prominently features a child. However, we cannot simply trust these platforms to make these alterations. Legislation is the first step towards ensuring protections for the privacy of children.
Legal protections for child influencers remain paramount, especially considering that this youngest generation is the first with the potential to have their entire existence documented online. As of April 1, the Washington bill is moving through the first House committee hearings. If enacted, the bill would signify a framework for other states to follow in addressing the exploitation of child influencers. The protections the bill would create are deeply needed. Hopefully, the Washington bill will pass and start a ripple effect nationally.
Student Bio: Kiara Benac is a second-year law student at Suffolk University Law School. She is a staffer on the Journal of High Technology Law. Kiara received a Bachelor of Arts from Wellesley College in 2018 with a Political Science Major, Economics Minor, and Portuguese concentration.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this blog are the views of the author alone and do not represent the views of JHTL or Suffolk University Law School.
