The Screen Actors Guild today announced its support for proposed legislation which overhauls California's outdated Coogan Law, the statute designed to protect the earnings of child performers. 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 bill amends the Coogan Law to reflect its original intent.
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. SAG President Richard Masur, who testified today in favor of SB 1162, said that the new law is long overdue. Those changes have made the current financial protections for child performers outdated and meaningless for the vast majority of child actors. Once the new law is in place, the moneys made under these contracts will legally belong to the children who did the actual work. The legislation has been endorsed by a number of former child actors, as well as by Paul Petersen, who heads A Minor Consideration , an advocacy group for child actors.