HB 322 creates a new set of rules in Utah for minors who earn money through entertainment work and social media content. For traditional performers, it requires a parent or guardian to establish a trust when the minor earns at least $20,000 in a year, and requires the employer to deposit 15% of the minor’s gross earnings into that trust. The bill also sets trustee rules, limits parental access to trust funds, and gives the minor a right to sue later if the trust was not created or funded properly.
The bill separately regulates children featured in monetized social media content. It defines categories such as “qualifying minor” and “market value compensated minor,” requires content creators to keep records, notify parents, calculate and transfer a portion of social media earnings to a trust, and allow minors to access funds at age 18. It also creates a process for minors, once adults, to request deletion or editing of content featuring them, and allows court actions for damages, attorney fees, and other relief if creators do not comply.
Impact
HB 322 enacts new provisions in Title 34 governing employment of minors in entertainment and monetized social media. It adds Sections 34-23-501 through 34-23-504, creating trust-funding obligations, recordkeeping duties, notice requirements, and private rights of action against employers, parents or guardians, trustees, and content creators. It also overrides certain later contractual terms involving venue, arbitration, or mediation in disputes covered by the bill, and it cross-references Utah’s Uniform Transfer to Minors framework for trust administration.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have broad support in both chambers, passing House committee votes unanimously, clearing the House floor with a substantial margin, and then passing Senate committee and Senate floor votes without opposition. The vote pattern suggests the legislation was generally viewed favorably as a child-protection measure addressing earnings and privacy for minors in entertainment and social media.
Contention
The main policy tensions are between protecting minors’ earnings and privacy versus imposing new compliance burdens on parents, employers, and content creators. The bill’s formulas for calculating social media earnings, recordkeeping requirements, and mandatory trust transfers could be seen as administratively complex, especially for family-run creator businesses. Another potential point of contention is the right of deletion and the bill’s ability to supersede certain contract terms, which may raise concerns for creators about control over published content and for platforms about implementation.