Child influencers make a lot of money. Who gets it?

Some of the most popular influencers can amass small fortunes before the age of 18, but there are few legal protections to ensure their earnings remain theirs.

The story of Britney Spears' conservatorship and its eventual outcome is well known: for years, Ms. Spears was trapped in a legal situation in where most of the money she earned went to her father, who controlled not only her finances, but also things like her medications, her performance schedule and much more.

Ms. Spears' story has prompted scrutiny of guardianship laws, which may have helped spark recent assessments of the protections — or lack thereof — available for child influencers.

Like their adult counterparts (and often their parents), these influencers sing, dance, cook, play and recite lines; they work with big brands, like Walmart and Staples; and they earn money through sponsored posts on their social media accounts.

And yet, in almost all of the United States, these workers do not benefit from 'no legal protection and no guarantee that they will ever do it. see how much money they made.

While this has parallels with Ms. Spears' conservatorship, its roots go back nearly a century.

In 1938, 23-year-old Jackie Coogan, who had starred in Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid" as a child, learned that his mother and stepfather had spent the million dollars he owned. won as a child star.

He sued and won, and in response, California passed a bill in 1939, commonly called Coogan's Law, to protect children in similar situations. the roles. Today, a revised version of the law requires 15 percent of a child entertainer's income to be paid into a trust.

Some other states h...