Bill: Protection against digital imitations of appearance and voice
Official title (in Danish): Forslag til lov om ændring af lov om ophavsret. (Beskyttelse af personlige kendetegn m.v. og ændret proces for prøvelse ved Ophavsretslicensnævnet)
In short
Reading time: 1 min- What is proposed:
- The bill sets out that realistic digital imitations of a person's appearance, voice or other personal characteristics may not be shared without consent.
- This also applies to imitations of performances by artists and performers.
- Disputes about certain licence terms must first be handled by the Copyright Licensing Board (Ophavsretslicensnævnet), if one of the parties wants this.
- Who would be affected: People whose appearance or voice can be imitated, performing artists and performers, people who share digital imitations, and parties to certain licence disputes.
- When: The bill has not been passed yet.
Written by AI from verbatim quotes from the source and checked by code and AI. Dates, tables and the fact box are calculated by fixed rules. Unofficial translation. Always read the original.
If the bill is passed:
- You may not share realistic digital imitations of another person's physical characteristics without consent.
- Caricature, satire, parody, criticism of power, social criticism and similar are exempt, unless the imitation is misinformation that could concretely cause serious harm to other people's rights or significant interests.
- Protection of personal characteristics lasts until 50 years have passed after the year of death of the person imitated. For performances by performing artists and performers, a different period applies: 50 years from the end of the year in which the performance took place, and for published recordings the period is counted from the first publication (50 years, or 70 years for sound recordings).
- If a case has been brought before the courts and one of the parties wants it handled by the Copyright Licensing Board, the court dismisses the case and refers it to the Board.
Sources and original
Read the official text (in Danish) →
Source: the Danish Parliament (ft.dk)
Translated from Danish · The Danish version and the original source apply.
Summary by the Danish Parliament (in Danish)
Forslaget skal beskytte personer mod, at deres udseende, stemme eller andre personlige kendetegn bruges i virkelighedsnære digitalt genererede efterligninger uden deres samtykke. Beskyttelsen omfatter bl.a. indhold skabt ved hjælp af kunstig intelligens. Karikatur, satire, parodi, magtkritik og samfundskritik er som udgangspunkt undtaget. Udøvende kunstnere og artister får desuden beskyttelse mod digitale efterligninger af deres kunstneriske fremførelser og præstationer. Forslaget ændrer også behandlingen af visse ophavsretlige tvister, så Ophavsretslicensnævnet skal behandle sagen først, hvis en af parterne ønsker det. Forslaget udmønter en politisk aftale fra juni 2025 mellem den daværende regering (Socialdemokratiet, Venstre og Moderaterne), Danmarksdemokraterne, Socialistisk Folkeparti, Det Konservative Folkeparti, Enhedslisten, Radikale Venstre og Alternativet.
Source: Folketinget (ft.dk). Reproduced unchanged.
Timeline
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- Square: the case ended here, e.g. because the bill was rejected or withdrawn.
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- Introduced · 8 October 2026Status in the Danish Parliament: Fremsat
- 1. beh./Henvist til udvalg · 22 October 2026Status in the Danish Parliament: 1. beh./Henvist til udvalg
- PassedAwaiting the Danish Parliament
- Enters into forceThe date is not known yet