Draft Code of Practice on AI Content Marking Published

Detected March 13th, 2026

Summary

The European Commission has published a second draft Code of Practice on AI content marking, intended to help providers and deployers meet AI Act requirements. This revised draft aims to streamline processes, reduce compliance burdens, and incorporate feedback from various stakeholders.

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What changed

The European Commission has released a second draft Code of Practice concerning the marking and labelling of AI-generated content, designed to assist entities in complying with Article 50 of the AI Act. This updated version, developed with input from industry, academia, and civil society, simplifies requirements, offers greater flexibility, and reduces the compliance burden for signatories. Key changes include a revised two-layered marking approach for providers, optional fingerprinting, and a more flexible, practice-oriented approach for deployers regarding deepfakes and public interest text publications. It also promotes open standards and an EU icon for labelling.

Regulated entities, particularly technology companies involved in AI, should review this draft to understand the proposed voluntary measures for transparency. While non-binding, adherence is encouraged to demonstrate compliance efforts with the AI Act. The draft code is structured into two sections, one for AI system providers and another for deployers, with specific considerations for artistic, creative, and satirical works. The Commission is seeking further input, and entities should monitor the finalization of this code and its integration with the AI Act's obligations.

What to do next

Review the second draft Code of Practice on AI content marking.
Assess current practices against proposed marking and labelling requirements for AI-generated content.
Prepare for potential adoption of voluntary measures to align with AI Act Article 50.

Source document (simplified)

To help providers and deployers meet the marking and labelling requirements for AI generated content under Article 50 AI Act, the Commission is facilitating the development of a voluntary code of practice.

This second version, drafted by independent experts, integrates written feedback from hundreds of participants and observers, including industry, academia, civil society and other stakeholders. The feedback was gathered through an EU survey, stakeholder meetings and workshops held in January 2026, as part of the code of practice drafting process. The draft also incorporates contributions from Member States (submitted via the AI Board) and Members of the European Parliament (represented in the IMCO-LIBE Working group monitoring the AI Act implementation).

The newest draft of the code has been streamlined and simplified, providing more flexibility for the signatories, reducing the compliance burden and incorporating further technical considerations to improve legal clarity and practicality. It promotes the use of open standards for AI content marking and an EU icon for labelling to simplify compliance and reduce costs.

Sections of the draft code of practice

The draft code of practice for transparency of AI-generated content is structured into 2 sections, each dealing with different aspects of transparency and regulation for providers and deployers respectively.

Section 1

Section 1 addresses marking and detecting AI content and is aimed at providers of generative AI systems within the scope of Article 50(2) AI Act. Compared to the first draft, this section of the code has undergone significant changes and introduced greater flexibility and clarity.

This revision removes and consolidates several measures, and introduces optional elements, while ensuring that all measures remain technically feasible and proportionate. Key commitments include a revised two-layered marking approach involving secured metadata and watermarking, optional fingerprinting and logging, and protocols for detection and verification.

Section 2

Section 2, targeting deployers of AI systems, focuses on labelling deepfakes and text publications concerning matters of public interest within the scope of Article 50(4) AI Act. Relative to the first draft, this section adopts a more flexible and practice-oriented approach. It has been restructured to simplify and streamline the commitments, while the taxonomy distinguishing the AI–generated content from AI-assisted content has been completely removed. Section 2 now features design and placement requirements applicable to icons, labels or disclaimers, ensuring a minimum level of uniformity, while enabling signatories to conceive solutions adapted to their needs. In addition, the section proposes a task force to develop a future, uniform, interactive EU icon, with discretionary support from signatories.

The code has also further defined the specific regimes applicable to artistic, creative, satirical and fictional works and text publications under human review or editorial control, facilitating reliance on existing practices or procedures.

The annex of the second draft now includes illustrative examples of a potential EU icon to be made freely available to signatories. These examples (and others) will be discussed with stakeholders as part of the next set of workshops.

Next steps

The Commission will collect feedback on the second draft from participants and observers to the code of Practice until 30 March EOB. The code is expected to be finalised by beginning of June this year.

The rules covering the transparency of AI-generated content will become applicable on 2 August 2026.

Download below the second draft of the code of practice.