Denmark Set to Pass Europe’s First Copyright Law Granting Citizens Control Over Their Digital Identity as Deepfake Threat Surges

Denmark is about to become the first European country to legally prohibit the unauthorized use of Fakefakes Deep, evolving quickly to modify its copyright law in the midst of increasing global concerns concerning the abusive use of artificial intelligence to reproduce human resemblance without consent.

The proposed law, announced last month by the Danish Ministry of Culture, will guarantee each person in Denmark the right to their own face, their body and their voice – a decision widely considered as an unprecedented legal safeguard against the evolutionary threat of the generative AI. With the support of almost 90% of parliamentarians, the bill should travel when it is officially presented after summer recess and adopted in the fall.

The bill defines a deep FAKE as a hyper-realistic imitation and digitally generated by the appearance or the voice of a person. Once promulgated, the law will allow dunes to demand that online platforms eliminate the content generated by the AI ​​imitating without consent. It also expands the protections to cover the unauthorized recreation of artists’ performance – the first time that a European government seeks to resolve the issue by legally enforceable rights on digital resemblance.

The Minister of Culture, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, who unveiled the proposal, said that the legislation aims to approach the “legal emptiness” which currently allows the unauthorized creation and dissemination of manipulated digital identities.

“We send an unequivocal message that everyone has the right to their own body, their own voice and their own facial characteristics,” Engel-Schmidt told The Guardian. “Human beings can be executed by the digital copying machine and be used badly for all kinds of ends – and I am not willing to accept it.”

The Deepfake crisis and the growing global alarm

Denmark’s proposal comes as governments around the world are doing with the growing use of fakefakes for fraud, disinformation, blackmail, political manipulation and non -consensual pornography. Activated by generating AI, these audio videos and clips become almost indistinguishable from authentic content, which facilitates the simulation of a person’s actions or declarations convincingly.

A recent Europol report warned that Deepfakes is already under armament by cybercriminals and foreign opponents, especially during electoral seasons. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2024 prohibited the use of votes generated by AI in the robocalles after an incident in which a false voice imitating President Joe Biden was used to remove electoral participation during a primary election.

In the United Kingdom, Deepfakes was used in financial scams involving the vocal cloning of CEOs to authorize large transfers. In Asia, several banks have already expressed warnings to customers after discovering video and vocal scams generated by the AI ​​targeting users of the mobile bank.

However, despite growing evidence of damage, most governments are caught off guard. Regulatory executives are widely exceeded or nonexistent, and application mechanisms are struggling to catch up with the rapid progress of AI. In many countries, the victims of Deep Faasfakes have little legal appeal – in particular in cases where no explicit criminal action, such as fraud or defamation, has occurred.

Denmark’s proposed reform aims to change this – at least inside its borders. By giving people the right to control their digital identity, the law provides not only legal tools for withdrawal and remuneration, but also exerts pressure on technological platforms to act quickly against the content of non -consensual AI.

The government has indicated that if the platforms do not comply, it is ready to pursue stronger sanctions, including “serious fines” and an action at the European Commission level.

“Of course, this is a new field that we break, and if the platforms do not comply with this, we are ready to take additional measures,” said Engel-Schmidt.

“This is why I believe that technological platforms will take this very seriously indeed,” he added.

The law does not prohibit satire or parody, which are protected forms of expression, but the government has clearly indicated that platforms should distinguish legitimate creative content and malicious identity.

Engel-Schmidt said Denmark will use its next EU presidency to put pressure on a wider adoption of similar protections through the block. In the event of success, it could lay the foundations of a standard on the scale of Europe on identity rights in the digital age.

While Denmark leads this legislation, other countries are starting to explore similar protections. China has adopted a rule in 2022 demanding that synthetic content carries clear labels, and the AI ​​AI of the European Union – which should take effect soon – includes limited transparency rules for Deepfakes. But many say that these measures are not enough.

In the United States, the Congress presented several bills to regulate Deepfakes, including the Deepfakes Accountability Act, but none has been adopted. Meanwhile, public figures, including actors and musicians, are increasingly turning to private prosecution to combat the unauthorized use of AI.

The entertainment industry, in particular, has become a front line in the Deepfake debate. The recent strikes of Hollywood actors included requests for protection against studios using their faces or their voices via AI without additional compensation.

Denmark’s daring move is considered a model for a legal system trying to monitor the pace of technology progressing faster than anyone in recent memory. While AI tools become widely accessible and more powerful, the threat of malicious fascines is no longer a distant possibility – it is a continuous reality.