Minnesota Session Laws - 2024, Regular Session

CHAPTER 103--H.F.No. 3488

An act

relating to labor; providing compensation for minors appearing in Internet content creation;

amending Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 181A.03, by adding subdivisions; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 181A.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 181A.03, is amended by adding a subdivision to read:

new text begin Subd. 5a. new text end

new text begin Online platform. new text end

new text begin "Online platform" means any public-facing website, web application, or digital application, including a mobile application. Online platform includes a social network, advertising network, mobile operating system, search engine, email service, monetization platform to sell digital services, streaming service, paid subscription, or Internet access service. new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 181A.03, is amended by adding a subdivision to read:

new text begin Subd. 7a. new text end

new text begin Content creation. new text end

new text begin "Content creation" means content shared on an online platform in exchange for compensation. new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2022, section 181A.03, is amended by adding a subdivision to read:

new text begin Subd. 7b. new text end

new text begin Content creator. new text end

new text begin "Content creator" means an individual or individuals 18 years of age or older, including family members, who create video content performed in Minnesota in exchange for compensation, and includes any proprietorship, partnership, company, or other corporate entity assuming the name or identity of a particular individual or individuals, or family members, for the purposes of that content creator. Content creator does not include a person under the age of 18 who produces their own video content. new text end

Sec. 4.

new text begin [181A.13] COMPENSATION FOR INTERNET CONTENT CREATION. new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Minors featured in content creation. new text end

new text begin (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a minor is considered engaged in the work of content creation when the following criteria are met at any time during the previous 12-month period: new text end

new text begin (1) at least 30 percent of the content creator's compensated video content produced within a 30-day period included the likeness, name, or photograph of any minor. Content percentage is measured by the percentage of time the likeness, name, or photograph of a minor or if more than one minor regularly appears in the creator's content, any of the minors, visually appears or is the subject of an oral narrative in a video segment as compared to the total length of the segment; and new text end

new text begin (2) the number of views received per video segment on any online platform met the online platform's threshold for generating compensation or the content creator received actual compensation for video content equal to or greater than $0.01 per view. new text end

new text begin (b) A minor under the age of 14 is prohibited from engaging in the work of content creation as provided in paragraph (a). If a minor under the age of 14 is featured by a content creator, the minor shall receive 100 percent of the proceeds of the creator's compensation for the content they have appeared in, less any amount owed to another minor. new text end

new text begin (c) A minor who is under the age of 18 and over the age of 13 may produce, create, and publish their own content and is entitled to all compensation for their own content creation. A minor engaged in the work of content creation as the producer, creator, and publisher of content must also follow the requirements in paragraph (b). new text end

new text begin (d) A minor who appears incidentally in a video that depicts a public event that a reasonable person would know to be broadcast, including a concert, competition, or sporting event, and is published by a content creator is not considered a violation of this section. new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Records required. new text end

new text begin (a) All video content creators whose content features a minor engaged in the work of content creation shall maintain the following records and retain the records until the minor reaches the age of 21: new text end

new text begin (1) the name and documentary proof of the age of the minor engaged in the work of content creation; new text end

new text begin (2) the amount of content creation that generated compensation as described in subdivision 1 during the reporting period; new text end

new text begin (3) the total number of minutes of content creation for which the content creator received compensation during the reporting period; new text end

new text begin (4) the total number of minutes a minor was featured in content creation during the reporting period; new text end

new text begin (5) the total compensation generated from content creation featuring a minor during the reporting period; and new text end

new text begin (6) the amount deposited into the trust account for the benefit of the minor engaged in the work of content creation as required by subdivision 3. new text end

new text begin (b) The records required by this subdivision must be readily accessible to the minor for review. The content creator shall provide notice to the minor of the existence of the records. new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Trust required. new text end

new text begin (a) A minor who is engaged in the work of content creation consistent with this section must be compensated by the content creator. The content creator must set aside gross earnings on the video content that includes the likeness, name, or photograph of the minor in a trust account to be preserved for the benefit of the minor until the minor reaches the age of majority, according to the following distribution: new text end

new text begin (1) if only one minor meets the content threshold described in subdivision 1, the percentage of total gross earnings on any video segment, including the likeness, name, or photograph of the minor that is equal to or greater than half of the content percentage that includes the minor as described in subdivision 1; or new text end

new text begin (2) if more than one minor meets the content threshold described in subdivision 1 and a video segment includes more than one of those minors, the percentage described in clause (1) for all minors in any segment must be equally divided between the minors regardless of differences in percentage of content provided by the individual minors. new text end

new text begin (b) A trust account required under this section must, at a minimum, provide that: new text end

new text begin (1) the money in the account is available only to the minor engaged in the work of content creation; new text end

new text begin (2) the account is held by a bank, corporate fiduciary, or trust company, as those terms are defined in chapter 48A; new text end

new text begin (3) the money in the account becomes available to the minor engaged in the work of content creation upon the minor attaining the age of 18 years or upon a declaration that the minor is emancipated; and new text end

new text begin (4) that the account meets the requirements of chapter 527, the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act. new text end

new text begin (c) If a content creator knowingly or recklessly violates this section, a minor satisfying the criteria described in subdivision 1 may commence a civil action to enforce the provisions of this section regarding the trust account. In any action brought in accordance with this section, the court may award the following damages: new text end

new text begin (1) actual damages including any compensation owed under this section; new text end

new text begin (2) punitive damages; and new text end

new text begin (3) the costs of the action, including attorney fees and litigation costs. new text end

new text begin (d) This section does not affect a right or remedy available under any other law of the state. new text end

new text begin (e) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to have any effect on a party that is neither the content creator nor the minor who engaged in the work of content creation. new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Civil cause of action; violations. new text end

new text begin (a) Along with the civil action provided in subdivision 3, paragraph (c), the minor may commence a civil action against the content creator for damages, injunctive relief, and any other relief the court finds just and equitable to enforce this section. new text end

new text begin (b) The attorney general may enforce subdivision 1, pursuant to section 8.31, and may recover costs and fees. new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Content removal. new text end

new text begin Content containing the likeness of a child must be deleted and removed from any online platform by the individual who posted the content, the account owner, or another person who has control over the account when the request is made by a minor age 13 or older whose likeness appears in the content, or by an adult who was under the age of 18 when their likeness was used in the content. new text end

new text begin Subd. 6. new text end

new text begin Minimum age exemption. new text end

new text begin A minor age 14 or over compensated under this section is exempt from the minimum age provisions of section 181A.04, subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective July 1, 2025. new text end

Presented to the governor May 14, 2024

Signed by the governor May 15, 2024, 9:39 a.m.