Latest news with #JakobEngelSchmidt
New York Times
10-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Denmark Aims to Use Copyright Law to Protect People From Deepfakes
The government in Denmark wants to protect citizens from deepfake images by giving them more control over their own likenesses, expanding copyright law in a pioneering measure that would allow people to demand that social media platforms take down digital forgeries. Deepfake technology, which uses A.I. tools to create ultrarealistic images, videos or audio that appear to be actual people, is rapidly improving, leaving the images much harder to spot than ever. Authorities in the United States and around the world are quickly imposing new rules in a struggle to catch up with the technology, which has legitimate uses but has also been widely adopted to make nonconsensual pornography, to run scams and to spread disinformation. Existing laws are largely intended to crack down on the harms caused by the technology, typically by using the criminal code. The Danish bill would take a new tack, experts said, by amending copyright law to make it illegal to share most deepfake images of another person without their consent. Jakob Engel-Schmidt, the Danish culture minister, said, 'Technology has outpaced our current legislation.' The bill, he added, is an effort to 'secure fundamental rights' as the digital age tests the boundaries of personal privacy. There is also hope among the bill's backers that it could be a test case for the rest of the European Union, the presidency of which Denmark has just assumed. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Fast Company
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Fast Company
Denmark wants you to copyright yourself. It might be the only way to stop deepfakes
'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,' Danish Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt recently told The Guardian after Denmark introduced an amendment to its copyright legislation so people could own their own likeness. 'In the bill we agree and are sending an unequivocal message that everybody has the right to their own body, their own voice, and their own facial features, which is apparently not how the current law is protecting people against generative AI.' The Danish culture minister is right. We need to stop this problem decisively. Deepfakes are a serious problem—one that is fundamentally altering our perception of reality. People are getting bullied, coerced into doing things against their will, and even framed for crimes they didn't commit. Stopping the software will not work. That ship sailed a long time ago. And normal people don't have the resources to fight in court for a deepfake to be taken down. The answer, like the Danish government has done, is to include personal likeness in copyright law. The proposal establishes legal definitions for unauthorized digital reproductions, specifically targeting 'very realistic digital representation of a person, including their appearance and voice.' The Danish administration intends to introduce the legislative proposal for public input ahead of the summer parliamentary break, with formal submission planned for autumn. Under the revised copyright framework, Danish citizens would gain legal authority to request removal of nonconsensual deepfake content from digital platforms. The legislation extends protection to cover unauthorized artificial recreations of artistic performances, with potential financial remedies for victims. Creative works such as parody and satirical content remain exempt from these restrictions. 'Of course this is new ground we are breaking, and if the platforms are not complying with that, we are willing to take additional steps,' Engel-Schmidt said. Digital platforms that fail to comply face substantial financial penalties, with potential escalation to European Commission oversight. 'That is why I believe the tech platforms will take this very seriously indeed,' the minister added. Denmark plans to leverage its upcoming EU presidency to promote similar legislative approaches across European nations. Fix copyright to fix the deepfake problem If imposing heavy penalties on any social network or video service that hosts a copyrighted work sounds familiar, that's because it is how the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) works in the United States. Under U.S. copyright law and similar systems globally, copyright protection is granted exclusively to original creative works fixed in a tangible form, such as writings, music, artwork, software, films, or photographs. Crucially, copyright law explicitly excludes protection for abstract concepts like ideas, facts, systems, methods, or short phrases, which may fall under trademark law but can't be copyrighted. Most importantly, it does not extend to fundamental aspects of an individual's identity, including their likeness, voice, or persona. Copyright protects specific, authored expressions—like a particular photograph of you or a recording of your voice singing a song—but not the underlying person. Your face, body, or general identity can be reproduced, although there are rights concerning the commercial or personal use of one's likeness, voice, or identity. They are addressed by separate legal doctrines, primarily the right of publicity and the right to privacy. The problem is that, to fight someone from using your likeness under that framework, you will need a lot of power and money. Someone like Scarlett Johansson could take down OpenAI's version of her voice because it sounded too much like her with a simple tweet and the threat of litigation. Likewise, the lawyers of famous people like President Obama or footballer Christiano Ronaldo can strike down any unsanctioned use of their likeness. 'If Ronaldo complains about a deepfake video of him, a platform will take the video down,' Metaphysic CEO Tom Graham told me in an interview last year talking about his company's efforts to copyright anonymous people's likeness. 'But if Joe Schmoe complains about his right of publicity or privacy, the platform will shrug. Unless Mr. Schmoe fires a DMCA complaint, that is. Then YouTube will take down the deepfake instantly, because not complying with a DMCA takedown notice will have serious consequences for YouTube that could reach millions of dollars.' Graham has been trying to fix this issue for a while. Metaphysic was the company that made deepfake Tom Cruise viral and then went on to work with iconic 'brands' like ABBA, Tom Hanks, and Elvis himself, to make legal digital clones for use in concerts, movies, and TV. The last time I spoke with him, his company was working on a pioneering system that allowed famous people and individuals to register the copyright of AI-generated versions of themselves. 'Copyright law says that you can't copyright anything other than works of human authorship,' Graham explains. 'So, you can't copyright yourself because you are from nature, right? You are not a work of human authorship.' But what if you could use AI to create a digital self and copyright that? That will effectively give you right over any digital representation of yourself, potentially putting you under DMCA protection without the Danish copyright patch. 'What we're doing here is we are creating the AI character of you. So, just like Disney can own Mickey Mouse and the Avatar characters, you can own the character that happens to look exactly, perfectly like you,' he told me. The process involves creating an AI-generated avatar from user-provided video, which becomes a copyrightable work because it's technically an artificial creation, even though it looks identical to the real person. 'If somebody takes a video of you in real life, you don't have any claim. But if someone makes a character that looks just like you, that looks exactly like your character, then we are trying to say that that unauthorized character infringes your character,' Graham described. 'So, you're not copywriting yourself. You're copywriting this AI character of yourself.' In theory, this would give people instant practical enforcement benefits. Under current takedown procedures, when someone with registered copyright complains about infringing content, platforms must remove it within 24 hours. 'That's the remedy. That's the thing you're looking to do,' Graham says. For deepfake victims, this creates a powerful tool. He already submitted his own AI likeness for copyright registration with the U.S. Copyright Office, though he's still awaiting a decision. The process was designed specifically to address recent Copyright Office decisions that denied protection for AI-generated images from tools like Midjourney, which were deemed to lack sufficient human authorship. 'We designed this system to embed that human control and authorship into every layer of the process. Just the same as if you were using Photoshop to design a new character,' Graham explains. The system requires users to manually curate their video data and select specific frames, creating what Graham argues is sufficient human involvement to qualify for copyright protection. If that sounds convoluted to you, you are not wrong. Denmark's legislative approach offers a more direct path than the complex workarounds required in countries like the United States. By explicitly granting individuals rights over their digital likeness, the Danish law could provide the legal foundation needed to effectively combat deepfake abuse. Whether the European Union follows Denmark's lead may determine how quickly this new form of digital rights protection spreads across the world, hopefully changing the mind of U.S. legislators in the process.
Gizmodo
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Denmark's Plan to Fight Deepfakes: Give Citizens Copyright to Their Own Likeness
Here's a weird potential future: When you're born, you are issued a birth certificate, a social security card, and a copyright. That possibility is emerging in Denmark, where officials are considering changes to the nation's copyright laws to provide citizens with a right to their own likeness as a means of combating AI-generated deepfakes, according to The Guardian. The proposal, advanced by the Danish Ministry of Culture and expected for a parliamentary vote this fall, would grant Danish citizens copyright control over their own image, facial features, and voice. This protection would, in theory, allow Danes to demand that online platforms remove deepfakes and other digital manipulations that were shared without their consent. It would also cover 'realistic, digitally generated imitations' of an artist's performance without consent, so no AI-generated versions of your favorite artists' songs would be allowed. In addition to granting copyright protections to people, the proposed amendment would establish 'severe fines' for any tech platform that does not comply with the law and respond to requests for takedown. The person who is impersonated in the deepfake could also seek compensation. 'In the bill we agree and are sending an unequivocal message that everybody has the right to their own body, their own voice and their own facial features, which is apparently not how the current law is protecting people against generative AI,' Danish culture minister, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, told The Guardian. '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.' Denmark is far from the only nation taking action on deepfakes. Earlier this year, the United States passed the Take It Down Act, a much more narrowly defined bill that gives people the right to request that platforms take down nonconsensually shared sexually explicit images of them—though some activists have argued that the law is ill-defined and could be weaponized by those acting in bad faith.
The Independent
27-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Denmark seeks to make it illegal to spread deepfake images, citing concern about misinformation
Denmark is taking steps toward enacting a ban on the use of 'deepfake' imagery online, saying such digital manipulations can stir doubts about reality and foster misinformation. The government said in a statement published Thursday that a 'broad cross section' of parties in parliament support greater protections against deepfakes and a planned bill is expected to make it illegal to share them or other digital imitations of personal characteristics. Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt, in a statement, said that it was 'high time that we now create a safeguard against the spread of misinformation and at the same time send a clear signal to the tech giants.' Officials said the measures are believed to be among the most extensive steps yet taken by a government to combat misinformation through deepfakes, which refers to highly realistic but fabricated content created by artificial intelligence tools. Deepfakes usually come in the form of pictures or video but can also be audio. They can make it appear that someone said or did something that they didn't actually say or do. Famous figures who have been depicted in deepfakes include Taylor Swift and Pope Francis. Authorities in different countries have taken varying approaches to tackling deepfakes, but they've mostly focused on sexually explicit images. U.S. President Donald Trump signed bipartisan legislation in May that makes it illegal to knowingly publish or threaten to publish intimate images without a person's consent, including deepfakes. Last year, South Korea rolled out measures to curb deepfake porn, including harsher punishment and stepped up regulations for social media platforms. Supporters of the Danish idea say that as technology advances, it will soon be impossible for people online to distinguish between real and manipulated material. 'Since images and videos also quickly become embedded in people's subconscious, digitally manipulated versions of an image or video can create fundamental doubts about — and perhaps even a completely wrong perception of — what are genuine depictions of reality,' an English translation of a ministry statement said. 'The agreement is therefore intended to ensure the right to one's own body and voice.' The proposal would still allow for 'parodies and satire' — though the ministry didn't specify how that would be determined. It said that the rules would only apply in Denmark, and violators wouldn't be subject to fines or imprisonment — even if some 'compensation' could be warranted. The ministry said that a proposal will be made to amend Danish law on the issue this summer with an aim toward passage late this year or in early 2026. Any changes must abide by the country's international obligations and European Union law, it said.
Associated Press
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Denmark seeks to make it illegal to spread deepfake images, citing concern about misinformation
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Denmark is taking steps toward enacting a ban on the use of 'deepfake' imagery online, saying such digital manipulations can stir doubts about reality and foster misinformation. The government said in a statement published Thursday that a 'broad cross section' of parties in parliament support greater protections against deepfakes and a planned bill is expected to make it illegal to share them or other digital imitations of personal characteristics. Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt, in a statement, said that it was 'high time that we now create a safeguard against the spread of misinformation and at the same time send a clear signal to the tech giants.' Officials said the measures are believed to be among the most extensive steps yet taken by a government to combat misinformation through deepfakes, which refers to highly realistic but fabricated content created by artificial intelligence tools. Deepfakes usually come in the form of pictures or video but can also be audio. They can make it appear that someone said or did something that they didn't actually say or do. Famous figures who have been depicted in deepfakes include Taylor Swift and Pope Francis. Authorities in different countries have taken varying approaches to tackling deepfakes, but they've mostly focused on sexually explicit images. U.S. President Donald Trump signed bipartisan legislation in May that makes it illegal to knowingly publish or threaten to publish intimate images without a person's consent, including deepfakes. Last year, South Korea rolled out measures to curb deepfake porn, including harsher punishment and stepped up regulations for social media platforms. Supporters of the Danish idea say that as technology advances, it will soon be impossible for people online to distinguish between real and manipulated material. 'Since images and videos also quickly become embedded in people's subconscious, digitally manipulated versions of an image or video can create fundamental doubts about — and perhaps even a completely wrong perception of — what are genuine depictions of reality,' an English translation of a ministry statement said. 'The agreement is therefore intended to ensure the right to one's own body and voice.' The proposal would still allow for 'parodies and satire' — though the ministry didn't specify how that would be determined. It said that the rules would only apply in Denmark, and violators wouldn't be subject to fines or imprisonment — even if some 'compensation' could be warranted. The ministry said that a proposal will be made to amend Danish law on the issue this summer with an aim toward passage late this year or in early 2026. Any changes must abide by the country's international obligations and European Union law, it said.
