Denmark is ready to introduce groundbreaking legislation on the European stage: a bill that recognises copyright over one's face, voice and body, in order to protect citizens from abuses of generative artificial intelligence. The primary target is deepfakes — audio-visual content created through algorithms that imitate the identity of a real person. Growing rapidly at a global level, deepfakes have long raised questions that go beyond technology, touching on legal, ethical and political dimensions.

According to the proposal, anyone will be able to claim ownership of their personal "performance" — understood as the digital expression of one's body and voice — even if they are not a professional artist. The protection extends to any type of content generated without consent, with the possibility of requesting its removal and, in the event of damages, obtaining compensation. Furthermore, platforms that host deepfakes could face penalties. In order to maintain a high level of freedom of expression, the proposal includes exceptions for satire and parody.

The Independent ✓ @Independent

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Denmark seeks to make it illegal to spread deepfake images, citing concern about misinformation independent.co.uk/news/denmark-c…

♥ 7 28 giu 2025 · Apri su X →

The measure has received broad cross-party support in parliament and is expected to be formally presented in autumn 2025, with the aim of coming into force by 2026. "Every person has the right to their own body, their own voice and their own face, including in the digital world," declared Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt. Copenhagen, which has just assumed the presidency of the Council of the European Union, has already announced that it will propose its own model at a European level.

A unique approach in the international landscape

If passed, the Danish law would mark a paradigm shift. No other European country has so far recognised a "personal copyright" over digital identity. The AI Act, recently approved by the European Union, imposes mandatory labelling for artificially generated content, but does not guarantee individual citizens an exclusive right over their image and voice.

Around the world, some jurisdictions have begun to address the issue through sector-specific approaches. In the United States, deepfake regulation is left to individual states: California, Texas, New York and Virginia, for example, ban the use of synthetic content in electoral contexts or non-consensual pornography, but there is still no unified federal legislation granting individuals legal rights over their artificially generated image or voice. In the United Kingdom, the Online Safety Act requires the mandatory removal of sexually explicit deepfake content and establishes criminal liability for those who produce or distribute it. France has introduced similar penalties within the framework of its law against digital violence. Both countries, however, have yet to adopt preventive protection based on the concept of individual copyright.

Human Rights Watch ✓ @hrw

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South Korea faces an epidemic of digital sex crimes, with hundreds of women and girls targeted through deepfake sexual images being shared online.

The government should hold perpetrators accountable and take meaningful steps to promote gender equality.

♥ 82💬 8 6 ott 2024 · Apri su X →

In South Korea, one of the countries most affected by the phenomenon of pornographic deepfakes, the government has imposed obligations of automatic censorship and algorithmic moderation on platforms, accompanied by heavy penalties for offenders.
At a supranational level, the European regulation on artificial intelligence requires that artificially generated content be clearly labelled as such, but here too, no subjective right to the protection of one's face or voice is recognised — unlike what Copenhagen is proposing. In short, no other legislation in the world adopts Denmark's radical approach: transforming personal traits into a legally protected form of property, on a par with an artistic work. And it is precisely this element that makes the proposal potentially revolutionary.

A model for Europe?

In an era in which the distinction between the real and the artificial is becoming increasingly blurred, this bill represents a concrete attempt to re-establish the boundaries of personal identity. Transforming voice and face into a form of legal property may seem like an extreme move, but it could prove to be an effective tool for restoring to individuals control over what represents them in the digital world.

The challenge will be twofold. On one hand, making this protection genuinely effective and accessible; on the other, avoiding censorious overreach. If well balanced, this legislation could become a European regulatory precedent and a step forward in the defence of digital rights, especially for those — such as women and the most vulnerable individuals — who most frequently suffer the toxic effects of algorithmic manipulation.

Euractiv @Euractiv

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Denmark wants to copy-paste its anti-deepfake law across Europe dlvr.it/TLxwG5

♥ 2 16 lug 2025 · Apri su X →

When deepfakes become gender-based violence

The Danish proposal also fits into an increasingly urgent context: the use of deepfakes as a weapon of online violence against women. According to numerous studies, including those by Deeptrace Labs and Security Hero, over 95% of deepfake videos online are pornographic in nature, and 99% of the individuals depicted are women. These videos are often shared without consent for purposes of revenge, intimidation or control, effectively constituting a new form of gender-based violence, commonly known as revenge porn.

At the regulatory level, Europe recently adopted EU Directive 2024/1385 on combating violence against women, which expressly includes the abuse of deepfake content among prosecutable offences. However, the directive focuses on criminal law enforcement. The Danish proposal, by contrast, also operates in the civil sphere, giving victims a means to reclaim their image and identity.