The new law goes into effect January 1, 2000. Now the monies made under these contracts will legally belong to the young performers who did the work. The Coogan Law was enacted in 1939 to assure that child actors receive a portion of their earnings when they reach majority age, now 18. The previous statute allows a court considering approval of a minor's contract with a studio to require a portion of the minor's net earnings to be set aside in a trust for the minor. And when the Coogan Law is applied, little or no provision is made for the payment of the child's taxes, agents, managers and other advisors.
Producers can still seek court approval.
The bill also makes the earnings of a minor the legal property of the minor, a codification of current judicial practice. The legislation has been endorsed by a number of actors, such as Melissa Gilbert, Brooke Shields, Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Mimi Gibson, a child star who was left with virtually nothing when she turned 18, despite having appeared in dozens of films, commercials and television shows. The Screen Actors Guild and its Young Performers Committee have been actively promoting changes to the Coogan Law for several years.