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By Luis Prada
Your image, your voice, and your essence as a human being could be gobbled up and regurgitated by AI. The clock is ticking on when you’re control over your image and representation is completely out of your hands.
To tip the scales back in favor of those who wish to remain in firm control of their image, Denmark has put forth a proposal that would give every one of its citizens the legal ground to go after someone who uses their image without their consent.
This specifically covers deepfakes, those videos of a person’s face or body that have been digitally altered so they appear to be someone else.
The Scandinavian nation has put forth a proposal to amend its copyright laws so that everyone owns the rights to their own face, their own voice, and their body. Current laws aren’t quite up to snuff when it comes to protecting people from having their likenesses twisted and contorted.
Denmark Is Giving Citizens Copyright to Their Own Faces
Danish Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt is taking a stand for all of those whose likeness has been callously tossed into images and videos without their consent. “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.
The proposed legislation defines a deepfake as a realistic digital representation of a person, including their appearance and voice. Under this new law, anyone in Denmark will be able to demand the removal of such content if it was shared without consent, including digitally recreated performances of artists.
Compensation may be on the table for those affected. Satire and parody, however, get a free pass, though it’s easy to imagine a future where this is a loophole that some will attempt to exploit.
The bill has massive political support, with nine out of ten MPs backing it. It’s poised to hit parliament in the fall after a consultation period. If tech platforms don’t fall in line, Denmark is ready to slap some massive fines on them and escalate the matter to the European Commission.
Engel-Schmidt hopes other European countries will follow suit.
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The Most Revolutionary Act 
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