COPENHAGEN, Denmark (PNN) - June 28, 2025 - In a pioneering move to safeguard digital identities, Denmark is redefining copyright law to give every individual legal ownership over his or her own physical likeness - face, body and voice. As AI-generated deepfakes proliferate, this legislative reform marks an historic step toward recognizing personal identity as intellectual property and curbing misuse.
Denmark’s Culture Minister Jakob Engel‑Schmidt has championed the amendment, stating that the law will send an “unequivocal message” that citizens have rights over their own bodies, voices and facial features. Under the proposed bill, individuals can assert copyright in their likenesses and demand removal or seek damages when these are abused. It notably extends to “realistic, digitally generated imitations,” empowering citizens to legally oppose political misinformation, AI impersonation or unauthorized voice cloning.
Enforcement & Exceptions
- Platform Accountability: Tech platforms failing to remove deepfake content face “severe fines” and potential escalation to the European Commission.
- Parody and Satire Carve‑Out: The law preserves space for expressive freedom by explicitly protecting satirical content - though its boundaries will require judicial
interpretation. - Timeline: With cross-party support exceeding 90%, the bill enters public consultation this summer, followed by autumnal parliamentary readings and anticipated enactment by late 2025 or early 2026.
Denmark’s initiative is the first in Europe to incorporate likeness into copyright law, moving beyond privacy or publicity regimes. Globally, its scope surpasses U.S. and South Korean efforts
- such as America’s Take It Down Act or Seoul’s porn‑deepfake prohibitions - by encompassing political and artistic impersonation. With Denmark set to assume the EU presidency, Culture Minister Engel‑Schmidt plans to elevate this model as a continental benchmark.
Denmark is rewriting the rules of digital identity, embedding likeness into copyright to confront the deepfake threat. This legislation acknowledges that personal attributes - voice, face, body - now possess significant economic and reputational value. As the law advances, its impact will hinge on precise legal definitions, platform compliance, and coordinating enforcement across borders.
Should Denmark successfully operationalize this model - and influence EU peers - it may serve as a blueprint for global regulation of synthetic media; but cautious calibration is essential: balancing legal empowerment against overreach and maintaining democratic safeguards of free expression.
