Anyhow, I hope you're all finding 2025 to be promising so far, although I would be remiss to not mention that my continued prayers go out to all those affected by the LA fires.
Being part of the entertainment industry, it's just heartbreaking to watch from afar and see so much devastation happening to both industry folks and LA residents alike.
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I teased back in December that I would be starting off with a post about the subject of perpetuity and the caution that surrounds this concept so let's get to it.
WHAT DOES PERPETUITY MEAN IN ACTING/MODELING?
Essentially, it means forever. Participating in an acting or modeling project that requires the use of your image/likeness in video and still form "in perpetuity" means forever. And in many cases, you won't be paid further compensation as a result.
Sometimes there will be a "buyout fee" tacked on in addition to whatever the confirmed pay rate is. The way a buyout fee works is the client offers to pay a larger (one-time) amount as incentive. But this isn't always the case. The majority of the time I've seen a buyout fee associated with a modeling or acting gig, it's to cover a specific duration of time that the resulting product would be actively used for.
For example, a buyout fee of $2,500 that covers the usage of a model/actor's likeness/image for up to 2-3 years is totally reasonable. If they want to add an extra year or so to extend the usage, then they would pay another buyout fee.
Now, if a client wants to offer a buyout rate for perpetuity usage, that's certainly nice but you have to ask yourself if you'd truly be okay with basically putting a price on your image being used forever. And if there is no buyout fee, you really need to think twice.
THE PERK OF PERPETUITY FOR CLIENTS
Cost-Effective. No client wants to spend money even though they know they have to. If there's any way to cut costs, they'll find it. Establishing perpetuity as a term of usage allows them to pay a little upfront to get what they want and not be concerned about paying out in the future.
If they do it right, the footage won't look "dated" so whether they use it 5 years from now or 10, it still serves its purpose. Even if they did end up needing to update the project in the future, they'd still be saving a ton of money by having spots running with perpetuity usage.
Convenience. Knowing out of the gate they can use the resulting videos/images forever means they don't have to prepare for conversations with the talent or their agency for usage purposes in the future. They can do as they please with no one standing in their way.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF IF CONSIDERING A PERPETUITY PROJECT
Will this prevent me from future work? Booking a gig for a company/brand/client that has perpetuity usage could potentially make you unable to submit for future work from a competitor or similar industry. While the odds of this occurring might not be super high, the fact that the possibility alone exists should give you pause before jumping right in.
Should I talk to my agent about this? Actors/models allowed to freelance while maintaining representation should consult with their agents prior to submitting to anything with a perpetuity usage attached. Similar to the question above, you don't want to indirectly tie your agent's hands and decrease the types of jobs they can submit you to.
Is the price fair for "forever"? I've seen talent jump to submit to (and book) perpetuity work that didn't even pay well! If you're okay with having your image/likeness used forever in order to make $250 for a day, that's on you but I would never.
Even if it was $500 or $1,000...I automatically pause to weigh all my options when it comes to perpetuity. So you have to ask yourself what are you worth?
The usage terms 9 times out of 10 are not up for negotiation so also keep that in mind. A client won't go back and forth with you when they can simply hire another actor/model who will do the gig without question. If you have an agent, that is one scenario where it could be negotiated and one of the biggest perks to having representation but if you're freelance with no rep, there isn't much leverage for you in this instance.
What is the project for? My only exception to submitting to gigs with perpetuity usage is for industrials (these are for internal use within the company only and not for public broadcast or posted anywhere online). This is because the odds of it conflicting with a competitor would be very low simply because industrials don't see the light of day outside of the internal company use so no one would know.
For other projects like commercials (even for local businesses), you need to still think about the pros and cons as it relates to you and future castings. If the pay works for you and you don't think it would pose an issue and if the project doesn't have a "conflicts" condition attached, chances are you can take that risk and be okay.
THE BOTTOM LINE
What annoys me about the whole perpetuity topic is that more and more clients are opting for this when, in reality, they don't really need it -- unless they're a mainstream, publicly recognized brand/company. But I'm starting to see super small companies, startups, and mom and pop operations defaulting to adding perpetuity to their casting breakdowns.
I personally think that's overkill. They're focused on their own needs and don't take into account what ripple effect this can have on the talent they hire. If someone informed them as to what the repercussions of perpetuity meant for talent, maybe they might reconsider. Maybe.
If you're into acting and modeling purely for fun, then there's really nothing stopping you too much from having such concerns. But for those of you wanting to pursue this field professionally, you need to weigh your options and make decisions for yourself as a brand/business.
Is perpetuity good for your business? Maybe the matter really is as simple as answering that question for yourself.
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