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AIMEG Code of Ethics for AI Media Production

Version 1.0 — Effective May 18, 2026

Preamble

The AI Media & Entertainment Guild exists at the intersection of human creativity and machine capability. This Code of Ethics establishes the moral and professional obligations of all AIMEG members, certified productions, and partner organizations. We believe that AI is a tool in service of human vision — not a replacement for human judgment, empathy, or responsibility.

All members agree to abide by this Code as a condition of membership. Violations are subject to disciplinary action under Article IV of the AIMEG Membership Agreement.

Principle I: Human Creative Primacy

1.1 Human beings shall retain final creative authority over all AI-assisted productions. The role of AI is to augment, accelerate, and expand human creative capacity — not to substitute for human decision-making.

1.2 AIMEG-certified productions must credit all human creative contributors accurately, including emergent roles such as prompters, AI pipeline engineers, and creative supervisors.

1.3 Members shall not represent AI-generated content as entirely human-created, nor shall they represent human-created content as entirely AI-generated, when such representations are made for commercial or competitive advantage.

Principle II: Fair Labor & Compensation

2.1 All workers on AIMEG-certified productions shall be compensated at or above AIMEG minimum rates, regardless of whether their role is traditional or AI-era.

2.2 Members shall not use AI tools primarily to eliminate jobs without providing retraining, transition support, or fair severance to displaced workers.

2.3 Revenue generated from AI-assisted content shall be shared equitably with the human creators whose direction, curation, and oversight made the content possible.

2.4 Members shall oppose "race to the bottom" pricing that undermines sustainable creative careers in the AI era.

Principle III: Consent & Likeness Rights

3.1 No person's likeness, voice, or performance shall be used to train AI models or generate synthetic media without explicit, informed, and revocable consent.

3.2 Consent must specify:

  • The scope of use (specific project vs. general model training)
  • Duration of authorization
  • Compensation terms
  • Right to revoke and mechanisms for deletion

3.3 Members shall not create or distribute synthetic media that deceives viewers into believing a real person said or did something they did not, when such deception causes harm to that person's reputation, relationships, or livelihood.

3.4 Special protections apply to minors, vulnerable populations, and deceased persons. Use of their likenesses requires heightened scrutiny and, where applicable, guardian or estate approval.

Principle IV: Transparency & Disclosure

4.1 AIMEG-certified productions shall disclose the AI Dependency Level (ADL) of the production to viewers, festival programmers, and industry partners.

4.2 Members shall accurately document and disclose:

  • Which AI tools were used
  • The nature and extent of human creative oversight
  • Whether any traditional roles were displaced by AI
  • The ethical sourcing status of training data

4.3 Members shall not engage in "AI washing" — making exaggerated or false claims about AI involvement to capitalize on market trends.

Principle V: Intellectual Property Integrity

5.1 Members shall respect the intellectual property rights of fellow creators, including copyrights, trademarks, and moral rights.

5.2 AI training data shall be sourced ethically. Members should prefer:

  • Licensed datasets
  • Public domain or Creative Commons content (used in compliance with license terms)
  • Proprietary datasets created with full consent

5.3 Members shall not use AI tools to generate content that infringes on existing copyrights, trademarks, or trade dress in ways that would constitute infringement if created by a human.

5.4 Members shall advocate for legal frameworks that recognize and protect human creative direction in AI-generated works.

Principle VI: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

6.1 Members shall actively work to prevent AI systems from perpetuating or amplifying bias based on race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, or other protected characteristics.

6.2 AIMEG-certified productions should reflect diverse perspectives in both creative leadership and final output.

6.3 Members shall advocate for equitable access to AI tools and training, ensuring that the AI media revolution does not concentrate opportunity within privileged demographics.

Principle VII: Truth & Social Responsibility

7.1 Members shall not use AI tools to create deceptive media intended to manipulate elections, incite violence, defraud consumers, or otherwise cause public harm.

7.2 Members creating synthetic news, documentary, or educational content shall clearly label such content as AI-assisted or AI-generated.

7.3 Members shall consider the societal impact of their work and decline projects that would cause significant harm, even if legally permissible.

Principle VIII: Professional Development & Community

8.1 Members shall commit to continuous learning about AI tools, ethics, and industry standards.

8.2 Members shall share knowledge generously with the community, mentoring emerging creators and contributing to open discourse about AI in media.

8.3 Members shall represent AIMEG and the AI creative community with professionalism and integrity in all public forums.

Enforcement

Violations of this Code of Ethics may be reported to the AIMEG Ethics Committee at ethics@aimeg.net. The Committee will investigate complaints and may impose sanctions ranging from warnings to expulsion, as outlined in Article IV of the Membership Agreement.

Adopted: May 18, 2026
Review Cycle: Annual
Contact: ethics@aimeg.net