HB 1820
In CommitteeHouse
Family vlogs/minor children
Protecting the interests of minor children featured on for-profit family vlogs.
This status may be delayed. See Action History below for the latest updates.
How does a bill become law?
- Introduced: The bill is filed and assigned a number.
- Committee: A subject-matter committee holds hearings, takes public testimony, and decides whether to advance the bill.
- Floor Vote: The full chamber (House or Senate) debates and votes on the bill.
- Opposite Chamber: The bill repeats the committee and floor vote process in the other chamber.
- Governor: The Governor reviews the bill and decides whether to sign or veto it.
- Signed: The bill has been signed into law.
AI Analysis
This bill requires for-profit family vloggers who earn money from videos featuring their minor children to set aside a portion of earnings in a trust for the child and gives the child the right to request deletion of those videos after turning 18. It applies only when vloggers meet specific thresholds for views, earnings, and child exposure in content.
- Vloggers who earn compensation from videos featuring their minor children (where the child appears in ≥30% of content and the vlogger earns ≥$0.10 per view or meets platform monetization thresholds) must set aside a proportional share of gross earnings in a trust for the child.
- If multiple minor children appear in the same video, the required trust contribution is divided equally among them, regardless of how much each appears.
- When a former child subject turns 18, they may request that platforms permanently delete videos in which they were featured as a minor and that generated compensation for the vlogger.
- Internet platforms must take reasonable steps to delete such videos upon request and must include a notice in contracts with vloggers about the minor’s future deletion rights.
- The bill amends existing Washington law on personality rights to define 'vlogger' and 'minor' and clarify how these rights apply to children in digital content.
Who is affected
- For-profit family vloggers — Parents or guardians who create for-profit family vlogs (e.g., YouTube channels) that include their minor children in content that meets the bill’s thresholds may be required to set aside a portion of earnings in a trust for the child and may face deletion requests when the child turns 18.
- Minor children featured in family vlogs — Minors whose likeness, name, or photograph appears in for-profit family vlogs may be entitled to compensation (via trust) and, upon turning 18, the right to request deletion of past videos.
- Internet platforms and social media networks — Online platforms (e.g., YouTube, TikTok) that host and monetize family vlogs may need to implement systems to track and respond to deletion requests from former child subjects and ensure contracts include required notices.
- Trust and legal service providers — Legal and financial professionals (e.g., trust officers, attorneys) may be consulted to help vloggers set up and manage trusts for minor children as required by the bill.
Pro/Con Analysis
Stronger case for benefits
Potential Benefits (5)
The bill requires vloggers to set aside a proportional share of earnings in a trust for minor children, ensuring that children who contribute to revenue-generating content receive direct financial benefit — a novel and significant protection for a vulnerable group with no prior statutory right to compensation in this context.
FinancialPeopleRef: Sec. 3(3)(a)The bill grants former minor subjects the right to request deletion of videos in which they were featured as children and that generated compensation — a major step toward restoring autonomy over personal digital identity and mitigating lifelong privacy harms from childhood exposure.
Rights & LibertiesPeopleRef: Sec. 4(1)–(2)By defining 'minor' as a Washington resident under 18, the bill ensures consistent application of protections across state lines for families residing in Washington — a meaningful safeguard for state residents who may otherwise lack recourse under federal or out-of-state law.
Rights & LibertiesPeopleRef: Sec. 2(7)The bill explicitly recognizes that children featured in for-profit vlogs are generating commercial value without compensation — a foundational correction to a long-standing legal gap and a step toward treating child participation in digital content as labor with economic rights.
Rights & LibertiesPeopleRef: Sec. 3(1)The contractual notice requirement may increase transparency for vloggers about minors’ future rights, potentially encouraging more responsible content creation — though compliance will vary, the provision signals a normative shift toward child-centered digital ethics.
Business & EmploymentPeopleRef: Sec. 4(3)
Potential Concerns (5)
The bill imposes a mandatory trust contribution structure that divides compensation equally among multiple minor children, regardless of actual on-screen presence — potentially distorting fair compensation and creating administrative burden for vloggers with multiple children, especially those operating micro-businesses or sole proprietorships.
Business & EmploymentPeopleRef: Sec. 3(3)(b)The deletion right may infringe on parental rights to manage family media archives and could conflict with existing First Amendment protections for non-commercial expressive activity — though the bill applies only to compensated content, the line between personal and commercial use is blurry for many family vloggers.
Rights & LibertiesPeopleRef: Sec. 4(1)–(2)The $0.10 per view compensation threshold, while seemingly low, may exclude many modest-scale vloggers who earn less than $0.10/view but still rely on platform monetization — creating a cliff effect where small creators fall just below the threshold and gain no protections, while those barely above it face compliance costs.
Business & EmploymentLean peopleRef: Sec. 3(2)(a)(ii)Platforms and vloggers must include contractual notices about deletion rights, which may increase legal and administrative costs — especially for small vloggers without legal counsel — and could discourage participation in platform monetization programs.
Business & EmploymentLean peopleRef: Sec. 4(3)The 30% content threshold measured by time may be technically challenging to calculate consistently across platforms and editing software, leading to inconsistent application and potential disputes over compliance — disproportionately affecting resource-constrained creators.
Business & EmploymentLean peopleRef: Sec. 3(2)(b)
Who Is Most Affected
Minor children featured in compensated family vlogs are the primary intended beneficiaries — they gain financial compensation via trust and future control over their digital footprint. This is a net positive, especially for children whose likenesses have been monetized without consent or compensation since infancy.
For-profit family vloggers face new fiduciary obligations (trust setup), potential revenue redirection, and future content deletion demands. While some may benefit from enhanced brand credibility, most — especially small-scale creators — will bear compliance costs and reduced creative control. The impact is net negative for this group, particularly those earning modest incomes from vlogging.
Internet platforms must implement deletion systems and update contracts, adding operational costs. However, platforms already face similar demands (e.g., COPPA, GDPR), and the bill may reduce long-term legal liability. Impact is mixed but slightly negative due to compliance burden on a per-case basis.
Trust and legal service providers may see increased demand for trust setup and advisory services, especially for vloggers above the compensation threshold. This is a net positive for providers, though the market is likely small and concentrated in urban areas.
Washington state residents (especially low- and middle-income families) benefit indirectly from strengthened child protections and reduced risk of lifelong privacy harms. However, if the bill discourages small creators, some may lose flexible income streams. Net impact is slightly positive due to stronger rights enforcement.