Denmark announced Thursday it will grant its citizens copyright protection over their own faces, voices and bodies, positioning itself to become the first European country to enact comprehensive legislation against unauthorized deepfake content.
The Danish government secured broad cross-party support for amending copyright law to give individuals ownership rights over their physical likeness, allowing them to demand removal of AI-generated content that uses their image or voice without consent and seek financial compensation for violations.
Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said the bill sends "an unequivocal message that everybody has the right to their own body, their own voice and their own facial features," according to The Guardian1.
The proposed legislation defines deepfakes as highly realistic digital representations of people, including their appearance and voice1. Unlike existing privacy or defamation frameworks, the Danish approach treats personal likeness as intellectual property, giving citizens direct control over how their image is used online2.
Tech platforms that fail to remove flagged deepfake content when requested could face heavy fines, with potential escalation to the European Commission, Engel-Schmidt told The Guardian1. The law includes exceptions for clearly labeled satire and parody13.
The national legislation builds on a June 2024 parliamentary agreement where nine Danish parties committed to restricting deepfake use in political messaging1. That accord required political parties to obtain consent before using deepfakes of opponents and mandated clear labeling of all synthetic content1.
The earlier agreement emerged after members of the Danish People's Party created a video featuring Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen, highlighting vulnerabilities in political discourse1.
Denmark's initiative comes as governments worldwide grapple with deepfake proliferation. The United States passed the Take It Down Act in April 2025, requiring platforms to remove intimate AI-generated content within 48 hours1. South Korea criminalized sexually explicit deepfakes in late 2024, with penalties up to seven years in prison1.
The European Union's AI Act mandates deepfake labeling but stops short of banning publication1. Denmark plans to promote its model when it assumes the EU presidency2.
Enforcement remains challenging due to the technical arms race between deepfake creation and detection technologies, warned Morten Mørup, an artificial intelligence researcher at the Technical University of Denmark1.
"We need to practice source criticism and understand that we live in a world of misinformation," Mørup said1.
The Danish parliament will consider the proposal this autumn after summer consultation2.
