Spain approves artist labour reform, extending rights for cultural workers

The Spanish Council of Ministers approved a real decree establishing the Statute of the Artist, a labour framework for workers in the performing, audiovisual and musical arts. The decree introduces regulations on minors’ participation, a safeguard for intimacy in sexual scenes, and incorporates rehearsal, pre‑production and promotion activities into standard working hours. It also extends the same legal umbrella to technical and auxiliary staff, covering roughly 771,000 workers (about 3.6% of employment). However, the measure does not regulate the use of artificial intelligence, which will require separate organic legislation.

Vice‑president and Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz said the reform was negotiated with “all the important sectors of culture in our country” and described it as “the reform of labour for the people of culture, giving rights where there was only precarity”. The government presented the decree as a step toward protecting artists’ image, voice and performance rights against AI‑generated content.