Is it time to copyright your face?

The Inquiry

• Episode: Is it time to copyright your face?
• Website: The Inquiry
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p029399x/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:22:58
• Published: 2025-09-16 15:00

Deepfakes are videos, picture or audio clips made with artificial intelligence to look real.

Although sometimes used for fun, they can also be used to defame or discredit people. Anyone from politicians to celebrities to normal members of the public can become the subject of deepfake imagery. So how can we protect our image from being used maliciously?

In Denmark, the government is proposing a new law which would give people copyright-like protection over their face, voice, and appearance. In this edition of the Inquiry, Tanya Beckett explores how the new law would work and asks how do we strike a balance between Big Tech and AI innovation and the need to protect our identity?

Contributors:

Gitte Løvgren Larsen, Lawyer and partner, Sirius Advocator, Denmark

Dr Alina Trapova, lecturer (Assistant Prof), Intellectual property law, University College London

Ignacio Cofone, Professor of Law and Regulation of AI, University of Oxford

Mikkel Flyverbom, Professor of Communication and Digital Transformations, Copenhagen Business School

Presenter: Tanya Beckett Producer: Emma Forde Researcher: Matt Toulson Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Production Coordinator: Tammy Snow Editor: Louise Clarke (Photo: Digital human head. Credit: imaginima/Getty Images)