The Danish government will amend copyright law to guarantee every citizen the right to their own body, facial features and voice, in a bid to put an end to the creation and distribution of deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence.
The Danish government will amend copyright law to guarantee every citizen the right to their own body, facial features and voice, in a bid to put an end to the creation and distribution of deepfakes generated by artificial intelligence.
The Danish Ministry of Culture plans to submit relevant amendments that define a deepfake as a highly realistic digital image of a person, including their appearance and voice, The Guardian writes .
This will be the first law of its kind in Europe,
Danish Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said: “In the bill, we agree and send a clear signal that everyone has the right to their own body, their own voice and facial features, which is clearly not a way to protect people from generative artificial intelligence. People can be put through a digital copier and used for all sorts of purposes, and I am not prepared to accept that.”
Changes to Danish copyright law, once approved, would theoretically give people in Denmark the right to demand that online platforms remove such content if it is distributed without consent.
It would also cover “realistic, digitally generated imitations” of an artist’s performance without consent. Violations of the proposed rules could result in compensation for victims.
The government said the new rules would not affect parodies and satire, which would still be allowed.
The minister hopes that other European countries will follow Denmark's example. He plans to use Denmark's upcoming EU presidency to share his plans with his European colleagues.
If tech platforms fail to respond appropriately to the new law, they could be subject to “severe fines.”
