Children’s Influencer and Family Content: Youth Employment Protection, Personal Rights and Contracts

Children in front of the camera: What applies

Children are omnipresent on social media: in family vlogs, in product tests and as their own children’s influencers. Legally, several protective layers apply. The Youth Employment Protection Act restricts the participation of children in media productions and often requires an official exemption for regular, commercial participation. At the same time, children have their own right to their own image and to informational self-determination, which also has weight towards one’s own parents.

Special rules apply to advertising: direct purchase requests to children are not permitted, and advertising must be recognizable for children. We advise parents who produce family content, agencies that mediate children’s talents and brands that cooperate with families.

Typical situations in which we help

• They run a family channel where their children perform regularly.
• Your child has its own channel with cooperations.
• A brand wants to shoot a campaign with her family.
• The youth welfare office or the supervisory authority asks for approvals.
• You want to have old videos deleted with your children.

Legal basis at a glance

Youth work protection

The employment of children under the age of 15 is generally prohibited. For media productions, the supervisory authority can approve exceptions, with limitations of duration and time of day. Whether a family vlog is considered employment depends on frequency, staging and commercialization.

Child’s personal rights

Parents may consent to publications as legal representatives, but must observe the child’s welfare. With increasing age, the child has a say. Embarrassing, intimate or endangering content is taboo. Later, the child can request deletion.

Advertising with children

Advertising must not take advantage of the inexperience of children and not directly ask them to buy. Markings must be understandable for the young audience. There are additional restrictions for certain products.

Child’s income

If the child gets their own income, they belong to it. Parents manage the assets, but are not allowed to use it for their own purposes. Contracts that retain the child in the long term may require family court approval.

That’s how we go

1. 1

   Initial assessment

   You briefly describe the facts to us and send documents such as a contract, cease-and-desist letter or screenshots. We will tell you promptly where you stand and what the next steps will cost.

2. 2

   Secure evidence and deadlines

   We document posts, stories and chat history in court and record all deadlines. Content disappears quickly, especially with social media.

3. 3

   Set strategy

   Together we decide whether negotiation, defense, cease-and-desist letter or contract drafting is the right way. It is always about your reach and your business relationships.

4. 4

   Implement and enforce

   We negotiate, formulate, answer and, if necessary, go to court, also in an urgent procedure. You will regularly be informed of what is happening.

Regarding the costs: Before every step we tell you what it costs. Depending on the case, we charge a flat-rate fee or by hourly rate according to the Lawyers’ Remuneration Act (RVG). If the opponent is obliged to reimburse, for example in the case of a justified cease-and-desist letter, we will claim these costs for you. More on this on our page Fee.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Use children regularly in commercial videos without permission.
• Publish intimate or embarrassing situations.
• Treat the child’s income as family income.
• Direct purchase requests to children.