Denmark is advancing a landmark proposal to grant citizens legal ownership of their facial likeness, voice, and physical image, effectively treating these personal attributes as copyright-protected assets.
The initiative, spearheaded by Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt, aims to curb the misuse of deepfake technology — a tool increasingly used to create lifelike digital manipulations of individuals without their consent.
Engel-Schmidt stressed that the policy is designed to safeguard people from unauthorised digital replication and exploitation. “Human beings can be run through the digital copy machine and be misused for all sorts of purposes, and I’m not willing to accept that,” he told The Guardian UK.
Under the proposed law, Danish citizens would have the right to demand the removal of unapproved digital imitations from public platforms, including synthetic recreations of artistic performances. The bill also makes provisions for financial compensation to victims of such misuse, while recognising satire and parody as legal exceptions.
The proposal has gained strong political backing, with a majority of Denmark’s parliament supporting the measure. A public consultation is planned, after which the bill will be formally debated later this year.
Government officials have warned that if digital platforms fail to comply with takedown requests, Denmark could escalate the issue to the European Commission and impose financial sanctions.
Engel-Schmidt described the proposal as part of Denmark’s broader commitment to defending citizens’ digital autonomy and urged other European nations to adopt similar protections.
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