Legal Obligations for Parents of Child Influencers

 Posted on September 24, 2024 in Family Law

Back in the day, many kids had a newspaper route, mowed lawns, or babysat to make some extra cash. Today, there are so many children with their own monetized social media platforms and massive followings that the law has had to evolve to address it. Children with millions of followers and subscribers, with posts that get hundreds of thousands of views, are earning significant, life-changing money at a scope that has never been seen before. On average, child influencers can make between $600-$20,000 per post, and one of the most popular child influencers who is not yet 13 years old has earned an estimated 100 million dollars over the past few years.

Recent efforts to regulate this field have resulted in new laws being passed to protect children, with various requirements for parents. If your child is an online influencer, speak with a qualified Kane County, IL family law attorney to understand your legal obligations.

Do Parents Have Legal Obligations to Financially Compensate Child Influencers?

Parents of child influencers have several legal obligations they need to be aware of to avoid inadvertently violating the law. They need to protect their child’s privacy, limit their working hours to ensure their kid has enough time for education and rest and restrict their content to avoid child endangerment and exposure to inappropriate material. However, one of the newer and most regulated obligations relates to the child’s financial compensation.

Since minors cannot legally own social media accounts, most child influencers post on accounts that their parents own. The parents likely spend a lot of time helping create the videos and posts, negotiating agreements with various brands, and promoting their child’s content, so they are entitled to some of the earnings. However, an addition to Illinois’ child labor laws from last year states that any minors who are 16 years old or younger must be paid if they appear in at least 30% of someone else’s paid content. That applies to social media channels that are owned by a parent but used mainly to showcase the child.

Any money that a minor child earns by appearing in paid content must be set aside in a trust in their name, which they can access once they turn 18. Parents also need to keep records of:

• All the content the child appeared in, preferably with dates and descriptions
• How much money the content earned
• How much compensation was received for the child
• Deposits into the child’s trust

The parent needs to provide the child with regular reports explaining all of the above. If this does not happen or the child is not compensated properly, she can seek legal recourse against her parents.

Schedule a Free Consultation with a Kane County, IL Family Law Attorney

Parents of child influencers have important responsibilities to protect their children’s privacy as well as their earnings. If your child is an online influencer, make sure you are aware of all the potential risks to protect them from and all the legal obligations you need to abide by. A dedicated St. Charles, IL family lawyer can help you understand your rights and obligations. Call Shaw Sanders, P.C. at 630-584-5550 to consult with our team.