Posted on 09/24/2016 8:20:42 PM PDT by grundle
California Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed legislation that requires certain entertainment sites, such as IMDb, to remove an actor’s age upon request.
The law applies to database sites that are used by the industry to make hiring decisions, which includes IMDb and the Studio System. In order to make the request, a membership to IMDb is required, which is open to all to apply.
“Even though it is against both federal and state law, age discrimination persists in the entertainment industry,” Majority Leader Ian Calderon, D-Whittier, said in a statement. “AB 1687 provides the necessary tools to remove age information from online profiles on employment referral websites to help prevent this type of discrimination.”
SAG-AFTRA lobbied for the legislation.
“On behalf of everyone in the industry who has struggled with age discrimination, whose opportunities to showcase their talent may have been blocked, I want to thank Gov. Brown and the bill’s author, Assembly member Ian Calderon," said SAG-AFTRA’s Gabrielle Carteris. "Gov. Jerry Brown today stood with thousands of film and television professionals and concerned Californians who urged him to sign AB 1687, a California law that will help prevent age discrimination in film and television casting and hiring."
In August, Carteris wrote of her support for the law in a guest column for The Hollywood Reporter.
“It is time to stop the ageism that permeates Hollywood’s casting process,” Carteris wrote. “This problem exists for all performers, but most distinctly for women. Performers create characters and often employ illusion to do so. That’s acting.”
She added, “Many actors have endured age discrimination of some sort throughout their careers. Those isolated, individual cases have now morphed into the almost-automatic age discrimination made possible by the online casting services. The information is put front and center before those making the decisions about whom to audition and whom to hire.”
The technology community opposed the law, saying it was a violation of free speech.
“We are disappointed that AB 1687 was signed into law today,” said Internet Association spokesman Noah Theran. “We remain concerned with the bill and the precedent it will set of suppressing factual information on the internet.”
Michael Beckerman, the association’s president and CEO, also wrote in August for THR about his opposition to the law.
“Requiring the removal of factually accurate age information across websites suppresses free speech,” Beckerman wrote. “This is not a question of preventing salacious rumors; rather it is about the right to present basic facts that live in the public domain. Displaying such information isn’t a form of discrimination, and internet companies should not be punished for how people use public data.”
The law may be subject to a First Amendment challenge.
Calderon said the law was more for actors and actresses not as well known as big stars.
“While age information for Hollywood’s biggest stars is readily available from other online sources, this bill is aimed at protecting lesser known actors and actresses competing for smaller roles,” Calderon said in the release. “These actors should not be excluded from auditioning simply based on their age.”
Well, the world is now a better place.
once a kid hits 13 or 14, the Hollywood pedophiles start looking for fresh meat. Age is very important to these guys, at least up to a point
Jerry Brown: The Democrat Manchurian Candidate for California.
Taking care of Hollywood...the Dims best friend at election time.
Yep. Nice to know things are going so well in California that this kind of thing has found it’s way to the top of their to-do list.
Legislating against nothing, just like the nonexistent made-up things liberals love to rage against.
LOL!
The law was written to enable age discrimination.
Studios can look at IMDB profiles and still say “I didn’t know how old he/she was.” if they are accused.
Hollywood is insane- on purpose.
The old women stars are stealing from the young women, in the name of ‘woman-power’.
This sounds like the biggest non problem looking for a solution of late...
Even if the age is removed from the IMDB website, you can still guess the actors age based on their film history.
Or is California proposing that the film history for each actor be removed as well?
This is what liberals do, waste time and money on nonsense.
Right. If a 40 year old is hot, and/ or sleeps with the producer, they get the job.
If a 30 year old puts on weight, they don’t. Regardless of birth date.
I assume everyone in Hollywood spends all day on IMDB- making it easy for the plaintiff’s lawyer to find evidence to show the defendent knew the actor’s age.
But, anyway, I completely misunderstood the law and it doesn’t matter.
Now I don’t see the point in the law except that passing it makes it appear that SAG has some clout.
Out of curiosity, I tried to check the profile of a friend who is listed in the IMDB.
The IMDB does not allow you to look at many details unless you are a member. So if I want to know his age, I’m just going to have to ask.
The issues of privacy for famous people are different.
Don’t want them? Don’t strive for fame.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner!
It’s a fig leaf in a world of X-ray spectacles.
Dunno about that... there was a link listed (a 2 hour program) a couple of days ago about the ped ring naming a few of them.. Some of the boys (Including Cory Haim) started about 11yo... and were continually abused up past their 20s...
Well, the older Actors do Fart more than the younger ones, just like the Dairy Cows they just outlawed in CA to save the Planet.
California has no jurisdiction over IMDB. They are headquartered in Seattle. As long as their servers are not in California, they can tell Brown to go screw himself.
Lots of sites have actor age info. Are they going after Wikipedia as well? Information wants to be free. Jerks.
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