STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 774 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL, LEVENBERG, RAGA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Labor AN ACT to amend the labor law and the estates, powers and trusts law, in relation to establishing protections for minors who are featured in influencer-generated content The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The article heading of article 4-A of the labor law, as 2 added by chapter 630 of the laws of 2003, is amended to read as follows: 3 EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION OF CHILD PERFORMERS 4 AND MINORS ENGAGED IN WORK AS INFLUENCERS 5 § 2. Section 150 of the labor law is amended by adding five new subdi- 6 visions 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 to read as follows: 7 9. "Online platform" shall mean any public-facing website, web appli- 8 cation, or digital application, including a mobile application. "Online 9 platform" includes a social network, advertising network, mobile operat- 10 ing system, search engine, email service, or Internet access service. 11 10. "Family" shall mean a group of persons related by blood or 12 marriage, including civil partnerships, or whose close relationship with 13 each other is considered equivalent to a family relationship by the 14 individuals. 15 11. "Influencer" shall mean an individual or family that creates video 16 content, performed in the state, in exchange for compensation, and 17 includes any sole proprietorship, partnership, company, or other corpo- 18 rate entity assuming the name or identity of a particular individual or 19 family for the purposes of that content creation. "Influencer" does not 20 include any person under the age of eighteen who produces their own 21 pieces of influencer-generated content. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD02531-01-5
A. 774 2 1 12. "Influencer-generated content" shall mean content shared on an 2 online platform in exchange for compensation. 3 13. (a) "Minor featured in influencer-generated content" shall mean a 4 minor under the age of eighteen who is considered engaged in work as an 5 influencer when the following criteria are met at any time during the 6 previous twelve-month period: 7 (i) at least thirty percent of an influencer's compensated video 8 content produced within a thirty-day period included the likeness, name, 9 or photograph of the minor. Content percentage is measured by the 10 percentage of time the likeness, name, or photograph of the minor visu- 11 ally appears or is the subject of an oral narrative in a video segment, 12 as compared to the total length of the segment; and 13 (ii) the number of views received per video segment on any online 14 platform met the online platform's threshold for the generation of 15 compensation or the influencer received actual compensation for video 16 content equal to or greater than ten cents per view. 17 (b) A minor engaged in work as an influencer shall not be deemed a 18 child performer for the purposes of this article in regards to such work 19 as an influencer. 20 § 3. Section 154-a of the labor law is renumbered section 156 and a 21 new section 155 is added to read as follows: 22 § 155. Minors featured in influencer-generated content. 1. Every 23 influencer whose influencer-generated content features minors under the 24 age of eighteen engaged in work as influencers as provided in subdivi- 25 sion thirteen of section one hundred fifty of this article shall estab- 26 lish a minor influencer trust account pursuant to the provisions of 27 section 7-7.2 of the estates, powers and trusts law for each such minor. 28 2. All influencers whose content features a minor under the age of 29 eighteen engaged in work as an influencer shall maintain the following 30 records and shall provide them to the minor on an ongoing basis: 31 (a) the name and documentary proof of the age of the minor engaged in 32 work as an influencer; 33 (b) the number of pieces of influencer-generated content that gener- 34 ated compensation as described in subdivision thirteen of section one 35 hundred fifty of this article during the reporting period; 36 (c) the total number of minutes of the influencer-generated content 37 that the influencer received compensation for during the reporting peri- 38 od; 39 (d) the total number of minutes each minor was featured in influenc- 40 er-generated content during the reporting period; 41 (e) the total compensation generated from influencer-generated content 42 featuring a minor during the reporting period; and 43 (f) the amount deposited into the trust account for the benefit of the 44 minor engaged in working as an influencer, as required by section 7-7.2 45 of the estates, powers and trusts law. 46 3. If an influencer whose influencer-generated content features minors 47 under the age of eighteen engaged in work as influencers fails to main- 48 tain the records as provided in subdivision two of this section, the 49 minor may commence a civil action to enforce the provisions of this 50 section. 51 4. Content containing the likeness of a child shall be deleted and 52 removed from any online platform by the individual who posted the 53 content, the account owner, or another person who has control over the 54 account when the request is made by a minor age thirteen or older whose 55 likeness appears in such content, or by an adult who was under the age 56 of eighteen when their likeness was used in such content.
A. 774 3 1 § 4. The estates, powers and trusts law is amended by adding a new 2 section 7-7.2 to read as follows: 3 § 7-7.2 Minor influencer trust account 4 1. As used in this section, the terms "influencer" and "influencer- 5 generated content" shall have the same meanings as such terms are 6 defined in subdivision thirteen of section one hundred fifty of the 7 labor law. 8 2. A minor satisfying the criteria described in subdivision thirteen 9 of section one hundred fifty of the labor law must be compensated by the 10 influencer. The influencer shall set aside gross earnings on the video 11 content including the likeness, name, or photograph of the minor in a 12 trust account to be preserved for the benefit of the minor upon reaching 13 the age of majority, according to the following distribution: 14 (a) where only one minor meets the content threshold described in 15 subdivision thirteen of section one hundred fifty of the labor law, the 16 percentage of total gross earnings on any video segment including the 17 likeness, name, or photograph of the minor that is equal to or greater 18 than half of the content percentage that includes the minor as described 19 in subdivision thirteen of section one hundred fifty of the labor law; 20 or 21 (b) where more than one minor meets the content threshold described in 22 subdivision thirteen of section one hundred fifty of the labor law and a 23 video segment includes more than one of those minors, the percentage 24 described in paragraph (a) of this subdivision for all minors in any 25 segment shall be equally divided between the minors, regardless of 26 differences in percentage of content provided by the individual minors. 27 3. A trust account required under this section shall provide, at a 28 minimum, the following: 29 (a) that the funds in the account shall be available only to the minor 30 engaged in work as an influencer; 31 (b) that the account shall be held by a bank or trust company, as 32 those terms are defined in section two of the banking law; 33 (c) that the funds in the account shall become available to the minor 34 engaged in work as an influencer upon the minor attaining the age of 35 eighteen years or until the minor is declared emancipated; and 36 (d) that the account meets the requirements of part six of this arti- 37 cle. 38 4. If an influencer knowingly or recklessly violates this section, a 39 minor satisfying the criteria described in subdivision thirteen of 40 section one hundred fifty of the labor law may commence an action to 41 enforce the provisions of this section regarding the trust account. The 42 court may award, to a minor who prevails in any action brought in 43 accordance with this section, the following damages: 44 (a) actual damages; 45 (b) punitive damages; and 46 (c) the costs of the action, including attorney's fees and litigation 47 costs. 48 5. This section shall not affect any right or remedy available under 49 any other law of the state. 50 6. Nothing contained in this section shall be interpreted to have any 51 effect on a party that is neither the influencer nor the minor engaged 52 in work as an influencer. 53 § 5. Subdivision 2 of section 130 of the labor law is amended by 54 adding a new paragraph i to read as follows: 55 i. A minor under fourteen years of age engaged in work as an influenc- 56 er in compliance with section one hundred fifty of this chapter.
A. 774 4 1 § 6. Subdivision 3 of section 131 of the labor law is amended by 2 adding a new paragraph h to read as follows: 3 h. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a minor 4 fourteen or fifteen years of age from being engaged in work as an influ- 5 encer in compliance with section one hundred fifty of this chapter. 6 § 7. Subdivision 3 of section 132 of the labor law is amended by 7 adding a new paragraph g to read as follows: 8 g. Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a minor 9 sixteen or seventeen years of age from being engaged in work as an 10 influencer in compliance with section one hundred fifty of this chapter. 11 § 8. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 12 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment 13 and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation 14 of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and 15 completed on or before such effective date.