Working With Minors Online, Coogan-style pay rules, permits, and parent agreements

A 14-year-old is great on camera, the brand loves them, and the concept is simple: “Two quick TikToks and a few stills.” Easy, right?

Not if money changes hands, content gets monetized, or a production team is directing the shoot. Working with minors online can trigger Coogan law minors issues, child labor rules, permits, and contract limits that don’t show up when you hire adult talent.

The goal isn’t to over-complicate a fun project. It’s to keep kids protected, keep parents informed, and keep creators, brands, and agencies out of avoidable disputes.

When a minor is “working” online (even if it looks casual)

Online content blurs lines. A teen filming a GRWM in their bedroom is one thing. A paid skincare integration with a call sheet, a shoot location, and a director is another.

In practice, a minor starts looking like a “worker” when the project has things like pay (cash, free products tied to deliverables, revenue share), brand control (scripts, mandatory hashtags, approval rights), scheduling demands, or adult supervision giving creative direction. Once you’re in that zone, you’re not just dealing with “internet culture.” You’re dealing with rules built for child performers, advertising, and employment.

Two legal realities catch teams off guard:

First, minors usually can’t sign binding contracts the same way adults can. In many states, a minor can later try to disaffirm (back out of) a contract, which is a nightmare if the brand already posted the content. Some jurisdictions let you reduce this risk with court-approved minor contracts in entertainment contexts, but it has to be done the right way and early.

Second, “parent said yes” is not the same as a clean production file. Parent consent helps, but it doesn’t replace permit requirements, wage rules, set safety expectations, or clear IP ownership terms. If you’re building a repeatable influencer campaign, start with strong contract basics, including a clear paper trail on rights and approvals. For a helpful primer on why paperwork matters so much in creative work, see Why contracts matter in the entertainment industry.

This is where teams often bring in counsel early. Chase Lawyers (a boutique entertainment, sports, media, and arts law firm with offices in Miami and New York City) typically helps clients treat minor talent projects like real productions, with clear rules that still fit the pace of social content.

Coogan-style pay rules and trust accounts (what changed for kid creators)

Most people hear “Coogan” and think “child actors.” That’s the origin story. Coogan laws were designed to stop adults from spending a child performer’s earnings, after famous child star Jackie Coogan’s money was misused.

Here’s the modern problem: kids can now earn real income from YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, either through brands or family channels. Legislatures have started responding with Coogan-style rules that fit content creators, not just film and TV.

The Coogan account idea, in plain English

A Coogan-style trust is like a locked savings jar. A required slice of the minor’s earnings goes into a blocked account, and the child gets control at adulthood. For a practical explanation of how these accounts work in production, see this producer guide to Coogan accounts.

California’s expansion to child influencers

As of January 2026, the biggest headline is California’s expansion of protections to minors featured in monetized online content. Legislation signed in 2024 took effect January 1, 2025, and it broadened financial protection for child creators and kids featured in monetized content. California’s announcement is summarized in California’s release on child influencer financial protections.

Based on the current framework described in widely discussed summaries of the new California rules, teams should expect duties like these when the law applies:

Scenario	Typical compliance focus	Why it matters
Brand hires a minor creator	A percentage of gross earnings routed into a blocked trust	Stops earnings from being spent before age 18
Family channel features a child heavily	Larger set-aside requirements can apply if the child is a major draw	Targets “kidfluencer” exploitation risk
Multi-state campaigns	Different trust triggers by state	One process won’t fit every shoot

California is not alone. A growing list of states has introduced or passed bills that mirror Coogan-style protections for online creators. For a big-picture view of the trend, including how many states have introduced legislation, see new state laws protecting minor content creators.

The practical takeaway: if your campaign includes minors, your payment process may need to support trust deposits, not just cutting a check to a parent’s LLC.

Permits, releases, and parent agreements that actually protect everyone

Money protection is only one part of the risk. The other part is basic production compliance: permits, on-set rules, and contracts that match how content is made and posted.

Permits and “child performer” rules

Many states regulate minors in entertainment with limits on hours, required meal breaks, supervision, and schooling rules. Depending on the state and the nature of the work, you may need a work permit, and you may need to treat a shoot like a traditional production even if it’s “for socials.”

California is a common tripwire for brands because it has long regulated child performers, and the newer influencer-focused rules put even more attention on minors in monetized content. If you’re filming in California, using a California-based company, or hiring a California-resident minor, it’s worth checking permit and trust requirements before you lock the concept.

Parent agreements: what to put in writing (and why)

A solid parent agreement shouldn’t read like a one-page “I consent” form. It should answer the uncomfortable questions before the internet asks them later.

A well-built package often covers:

• Who is hiring who: Is the contracting party the brand, the agency, the production company, or a manager’s entity?
• Comp and payment routing: Fees, reimbursements, and how trust deposits (if required) will be handled.
• Content rights and editing: Who owns the footage, how long it can be used, and whether edits can change the message.
• Likeness and publicity rights: Clear permission to use the child’s name, image, and voice for the agreed uses.
• Safety and boundaries: Wardrobe standards, no sexualized themes, no dangerous stunts, and who must be present on set.
• Posting and takedowns: What happens if the child wants content removed later, or if a platform flags the post.

One reason to get this right is that disputes in the kid-influencer space have become very public. For example, the Piper Rockelle-related litigation and settlement put a spotlight on alleged mistreatment and exploitation claims involving young creators. A report on that settlement is available in the Los Angeles Times coverage of the Piper Rockelle settlement.

To tighten the whole deal, brands and managers should also treat the minor’s “talent deal” like a real performance agreement with rights, term, approvals, and exit terms. This overview on key tips for negotiating talent agreements maps well to influencer work, even when the deliverable is a 20-second video.

Chase Lawyers regularly helps creators, brands, and families turn these moving parts into a workable system, with contracts that match how social content is shot, monetized, and reused across platforms.

Conclusion

Working with minors online is not just a creative choice, it’s a compliance choice. Coogan-style trusts, permits, and strong parent agreements protect the child’s earnings, reduce blowups, and make brand deals easier to repeat. If your team is hiring kid creators, or featuring minors in monetized content, bring in counsel early so the project is built on clear rules instead of assumptions. Chase Lawyers can help set up the contracts, trust workflow, and production guardrails so everyone can focus on making great content.