Epic Games Hit With Unfair Labor Practice Charge by SAG-AFTRA Over Use of A.I. Vader

On May 19, SAG-AFTRA filed an unfair labor practice charge against Epic Games over the use of James Earl Jones’ voice as Darth Vader in Fortnite. According to the filing, Llama Productions, a subsidiary of Epic Games, has allegedly failed and refused to bargain with the union in good faith.

Recently, Fortnite has collaborated with Star Wars, which included a character called “A.I. Vader.” This character uses the voice of the late Jones and allows players to interact with it in different ways.

Epic Games worked closely with Disney and Jones’ family to make this possible. According to a Disney blog post, “Epic Games used groundbreaking AI technology to allow fans to interact with this renowned character in ways that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.” Before he died, Jones worked with a Ukrainian firm called Respeecher to immortalize his iconic voice and allowed it to be used by Disney.

However, this alerted SAG-AFTRA, which alleges that Epic did not bargain or provide any notice that it was replacing the work of human performers with AI. According to its statement, while it celebrates the rights of its members to use their digital replicas and allow new generations to enjoy their legacies and renowned roles, it also advocates to protect the right to bargain terms and conditions revolving around voice work that may replace the work of its members, including those who “previously did the work of matching Darth Vader’s iconic rhythm and tone in video games.”

Fortnite’s Star Wars collaboration started on May 2 and will end on June 7. During this time, players can interact with A.I. Vader and unlock characters from the franchise such as General Grievous and Palpatine.