TL;DR
Over 7,000 members of UK performing arts union Equity have voted 99% in favour of refusing digital body scanning on set. The indicative ballot signals willingness to take industrial action unless AI protections are formalised in union agreements.
A Line in the Sand for Performers’ Rights
The vote represents the strongest collective action yet from UK performers against AI exploitation in the creative industries. Digital scanning—capturing an actor’s likeness for potential future use—has become routine on film and TV sets, often without clear boundaries on how that data may be deployed.
Equity’s General Secretary Paul Fleming characterised the challenge as “generation-defining,” noting that over 90% of UK TV and film production operates under agreements where three-quarters of artists are union members. The message to producers: continued erosion of terms and conditions will face significant disruption.
High-Profile Backing
The campaign has attracted support from prominent actors including Adrian Lester, Hugh Bonneville, and Harriet Walter. Bonneville emphasised that performers’ likenesses and voices should not be “exploited for the benefit of others without licence or consent.”
Olivia Williams, star of Dune, previously highlighted contracts containing clauses granting studios rights to performers’ likeness “on all platforms now existing or yet to be devised throughout the universe in perpetuity”—language that has alarmed many in the industry.
The Path Forward
The union will now write to Pact, the trade body representing UK producers and production companies, to negotiate new minimum standards. A formal ballot may follow, which would provide legal protection for actors who refuse scanning.
Looking Forward
While the indicative ballot doesn’t currently provide legal protection for refusal, it demonstrates unified resolve. The arrival of AI-generated “actors” and ongoing debates about synthetic performers have intensified pressure for formal agreements defining what is and isn’t permissible. UK performers are positioning themselves at the forefront of establishing industry-wide AI boundaries.