Digital likeness licensing for actors: how it works in Europe

Digital likeness licensing for actors: how it works in Europe

Digital likeness licensing means giving a company permission to use your face, your voice or both in AI-generated material, on terms you agree to in advance: what the material is, where it runs, for how long, and what you are paid. A good licence covers one use at a time. A bad one covers everything, forever.

That is the short answer. The rest of this guide is for performers and voice artists who want to know what they are agreeing to, and for productions that want to use a real person without the legal risk.

What is a digital likeness?

Your digital likeness is any version of you that software can reproduce: a face that can be placed in a new scene, a voice that can read a new script, a body that can be animated. It can be built from a few photos, a recorded session or old footage.

The question is no longer whether this is possible. It is who decides when it happens.

What a likeness licence should say:

A licence is only as good as its scope. Before you sign anything, check that it names:

The use. One advert, one series, one app. Not "any current or future media".

The material. Face, voice, or both, and whether new lines or scenes can be generated.

Territory and time. Where it runs and when the right ends.

Payment. What you are paid, and whether a new use means a new fee.

Withdrawal. What happens if you change your mind about future uses.

The safest model is consent per use. Every new advert or project is a new yes, and a new payment. It also happens to be what European data protection law points towards, as the next section shows.

What the law says in the EU

The AI Act. Article 50 has applied since 2 August 2026. It puts the duty to disclose AI-generated or manipulated content on the deployer, which in practice is the production or brand that publishes the material. Providers of generative systems must mark their output. Fines reach 15 million euros or 3 percent of global turnover. A production that uses a real person's likeness therefore needs to be able to show where it came from and that the person agreed.

GDPR. A photo is not automatically biometric data. Recital 51 says images become a special category only when they are processed with technology that allows unique identification. Where special category data is processed on the basis of consent, Article 9(2)(a) requires explicit consent for a specified purpose. Broad, open-ended permission for unknown future uses has weak support in the regulation.

National law. Sweden protects names and images in advertising through a law from 1978, which covers advertising only. Denmark announced a likeness law in June 2025, but it has not been adopted, and the European Commission raised objections in February 2026. No European country yet has a general right over one's digital likeness in force.

What the law says in the US

California passed AB 2602, which requires consent before a studio creates a digital replica of a performer and voids terms that do not describe how the replica will be used. AB 1836 requires the estate's consent for certain commercial uses of a deceased performer's replica.

Federally, the NO FAKES Act would give individuals, or whoever acquired their rights, exclusive control over digital replicas. It is still a bill.

SAG-AFTRA agreements require consent and payment when a replica is made or reused.

Contract terms to walk away from

Actors who licensed their likeness early have learned this the hard way. In one reported case, an actor found his licensed image used in health-claim videos he had no say over. Watch for:

A licence that is irrevocable or perpetual.

A right to sublicense to companies you will never see.

A right to train AI models on your material.

A purpose so vague that you cannot tell who will use your face, or for what.

If a platform's terms contain any of these, the platform owns more of your likeness than you do.

How Acasting works

Acasting helps people verify, protect and license their digital identities. On Acasting, a member activates their Digital Twin to show that they are open to AI and hybrid productions, and to voice work. Activation is a marker, not a set of generated images. Companies see the member's ordinary profile and their own photos, as in regular casting.

Nobody may use a member's face or voice in a production unless the member has said yes to that specific use. The company and the member agree on use and payment together, and the member can remove the marker at any time.

We are building the licences that will pay members when their likeness is used, with consent that can be traced from the first yes to the finished material. Next, we want to give members control over copies of their face and voice too.

Frequently asked questions

Can I license my face without it being used for anything else?

Yes, if the licence names one use. A licence per advert or per project keeps every other use closed until you agree to it.

Is AI-generated content with a real person legal in the EU?

It can be, with the person's consent. Under the AI Act, the production that publishes the material must disclose that it is AI-generated or manipulated. Proof of consent is what lets a production use a real person without the risk.

Do I get paid every time my likeness is used?

That depends on the contract. Consent per use means every new use is a new agreement, and a new payment.

Can I withdraw my consent?

You can stop future uses. Material already made under a valid licence usually runs until that licence ends, so check what your contract says about it.

Is a photo of me biometric data?

Not automatically. Under the GDPR, a photo becomes biometric data when it is processed with technology that can uniquely identify you, such as face matching.