2025 -- S 0153

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LC000602

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN --

VLOGS

     Introduced By: Senators DiMario, LaMountain, Burke, McKenney, Patalano, Quezada,
Ujifusa, Gallo, Sosnowski, and Pearson

     Date Introduced: January 31, 2025

     Referred To: Senate Judiciary

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Chapter 28-3 of the General Laws entitled "Employment of Children" is

hereby amended by adding thereto the following sections:

     28-3-1.1. Definitions.

     When used in this chapter the following words and phrases are constituted as follows:

     (1) "Compensation" means anything of value, to include money or funds received in

exchange or for consideration for providing a service, work or product.

     (2) "Family" means a group of persons related by blood or marriage, including civil

partnerships, or whose close relationship with each other, is considered equivalent to a family

relationship by the individuals.

     (3) "Minor" means any person under eighteen (18) years of age.

     (4) "Online platform" means any public-facing website, web application, or digital

application, including a mobile application, to include, but not be limited to, a social network,

advertising network, mobile operating system, search engine, email service, or Internet access

service.

     (5) "Superintendent of schools" means an individual employed in accordance with the

provisions of chapter 2 of title 16 and exercising the powers and duties enumerated in § 16-2-11.

     (6) "Trust fund" means an arrangement that allows or requires an entity or individual to

place assets or compensation in an account to benefit another person or entity.

     (7) "Vlog" or "Vlogging" means content shared on an online platform in exchange for

compensation.

     (8) "Vlogger" means an individual or family that creates video content, performed in Rhode

Island, in exchange for compensation, and includes any proprietorship, partnership, company, or

other corporate entity assuming the name or identity of a particular individual or family for the

purposes of that content creation.

     28-3-9.2. Minors featured in vlogs.

     (a) A minor under the age of eighteen (18) is considered engaged in the authorized work

of vlogging, when the following criteria are met at any time during the previous twelve (12) month

period:

     (1) At least thirty percent (30%) of the vlogger's compensated video content, produced

within a thirty (30) day period included the likeness, name, or photograph of the minor. Content

percentage is measured by the percentage of time the likeness, name, or photograph of the minor

visually appears or is the subject of an oral narrative in a video segment, as compared to the total

length of the segment; and

     (2) The number of views received per video segment, on any online platform meet the

online platform's threshold for the generation of compensation or the vlogger received actual

compensation for video content equal to or greater than ten cents ($0.10) per view.

     (b) With the exception of § 28-3-9.3, the provisions of this chapter do not apply to a minor

engaged in the work of vlogging.

     (c) All vloggers whose content features a minor under the age of eighteen (18) engaged in

the work of vlogging, shall maintain the following records and shall provide them to the minor on

an ongoing basis:

     (1) The name and documentary proof of the age of the minor engaged in the work of

vlogging;

     (2) The number of vlogs that generated compensation as described in subsection (a) of this

section during the reporting period;

     (3) The total number of minutes of the vlogs that the vlogger received compensation for

during the reporting period;

     (4) The total number of minutes each minor was featured in vlogs during the reporting

period;

     (5) The total compensation generated from vlogs featuring a minor during the reporting

period; and

     (6) The amount deposited into the trust fund established in § 23-3-9.3 for the benefit of the

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minor engaged in the work of vlogging, as required by § 28-3-9.3(a)(1).

     (d) If a vlogger to include, but not limited to, a family member, whose vlog content features

minors under the age of eighteen (18) engaged in the work of vlogging fails to maintain the records

as provided in subsection (c) of this section or to deposit compensation required by the provisions

of this chapter, the minor, through the minor's parents, guardian or representative, may commence

a civil action to enforce the provisions of this chapter.

     28-3-9.3. Minors engaged in the work of vlogging -- Trust fund.

     (a) A minor satisfying the criteria described in § 28-3-9.2(a) shall be compensated by the

vlogger. The vlogger shall set aside from gross earnings on the video content, including the

likeness, name, or photograph of the minor in a trust account, to be preserved for the benefit of the

minor upon reaching the age of majority, according to the following distribution formula:

     (1) Where only one minor meets the content threshold described in § 28-3-9.2, the

percentage of total gross earnings on any video segment, including the likeness, name, or

photograph of the minor, shall be as follows:

     (i) For a video segment including the likeness, name or photograph of the minor that is

equal to or greater than thirty percent (30%) of the vlogs, compensation shall be paid to the minor,

in an amount equal to ten percent (10%) of the gross earnings;

     (ii) For video segments including the likeness, name or photograph of the minor that is

equal to or greater than fifty percent (50%) of the vlog but less than seventy-five percent (75%),

compensation shall be paid to the minor in the amount of twenty-five percent (25%) of the gross

earnings; and

     (iii) Any video segment including the likeness, name, or photograph of the minor equal to

or greater than seventy-five percent (75%) of the vlog, shall result in compensation paid to the

minor in the amount of fifty percent (50%) of gross revenues. All compensation shall be paid and

deposited into a trust account pursuant to the provisions of this section.

     (2) Where more than one minor meets the content threshold described in § 28-3-9.2 and a

video segment includes more than one of those minors, the percentage described in subsection

(a)(1) of this section for all minors in any segment, shall be equally divided between the minors,

regardless of differences in percentage of content provided by the individual minors.

     (b) A trust account required under this section shall provide, at a minimum, the following:

     (1) That the funds in the account shall be available only to the minor engaged in the work

of vlogging;

     (2) That the account shall be held by a bank as defined in § 6A-4-105, corporate fiduciary

as defined in § 6A-3-307, or trust company as defined in § 18-13-1, as those terms are defined in

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title 7 and shall be specifically identified as belonging to the minor;

     (3) That the funds in the account shall become available to the minor engaged in the work

of vlogging, upon the minor attaining the age of eighteen (18) years or upon the minor being

declared emancipated or upon an order of a court of competent jurisdiction; and

     (4) That the account meets the requirements of chapter 7 of tile 18.

     (c) If a vlogger knowingly or recklessly violates this section to include a violation by a

family member, a minor satisfying the criteria provided of § 28-3-9.2(a) may, through an action

brought by a parent, guardian or representative, enforce the provisions of this chapter to include,

but not limited to, establishment of a trust account. The court may award, to the minor in the action

brought by the parent, guardian or representative who prevails in any action to enforce the

provisions of this chapter, the following damages:

     (1) Actual damages;

     (2) Punitive damages; and

     (3) Attorneys' fees and litigation costs.

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

     (e) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to have any effect on a party that is neither

the vlogger nor the minor engaged in the work of vlogging.

     28-3-9.4. Right to be forgotten.

     (a) Upon the age of majority, any individual to whom as a minor child, as defined in § 28-

3-1.1 of this chapter, previously applied may request the permanent deletion of any video segment

including the likeness, name, or photograph of the individual from any internet platform or network

that provided compensation to the individual's parent or parents in exchange for that video content.

     (b) A social media platform that receives a deletion request under subsection (a) of this

section shall take all reasonable steps to permanently delete all content for which the request was

made.

     (c) A contract between a vlogger and a social media platform for the creation of video

content that would reasonably be anticipated to feature a minor child shall include notification to

the social media platform of the rights of the child under this section.

     (d) An internet platform or network shall take all reasonable steps to permanently delete

the video segment for which a request described in subsection (a) of this section has been made.

     (e) Any contract with an internet platform or network for the exchange or uses of video

content that would reasonably be anticipated to include greater than a de minimis use of a vlogger's

minor child shall include notification to the internet platform or network of the minor child's future

rights as provided in this section.

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     SECTION 2. Section 28-3-1 of the General Laws in Chapter 28-3 entitled "Employment

of Children" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     28-3-1. Places and times where employment of children prohibited.

     No Except in occupations specifically authorized by § 28-3-9.2, no child under fourteen

(14) years of age shall be employed or permitted or suffered to work at any time in any business or

industrial establishment in this state. No child under sixteen (16) years of age shall be employed or

permitted or suffered to work at any time in any factory, mechanical, or manufacturing

establishment within this state. A child who has reached the fourteenth (14th) birthday, but has not

reached the sixteenth (16th) birthday, may be employed only between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and

7:00 p.m; except that a child who has reached the fourteenth (14th) birthday, but has not reached

the sixteenth (16th) birthday, may be employed until 9:00 p.m. but only during school vacations;

and except as provided in § 28-3-3 no child under sixteen (16) years of age shall be employed or

permitted or suffered to work in any business establishment within this state. Every person willfully

violating the provisions of this section shall be fined as provided in § 28-3-20.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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LC000602

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO LABOR AND LABOR RELATIONS -- EMPLOYMENT OF CHILDREN --

VLOGS

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     This act would establish a statutory framework designed to protect minors who are

engaging in the business of vloging on social media and the Internet. This act would also authorize

that a representative of the minor to file a lawsuit on the minor's behalf, even with respect to family

members, to enforce the minor's rights, pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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LC000602

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