Guides · Article 50 · EU AI Act
The Code of Practice on marking AI-generated content
Alongside Article 50's marking and labelling obligations, the EU AI Act builds in a mechanism to help industry implement them: codes of practice. A draft Code of Practice on the marking and labelling of AI-generated content has been in development under that mechanism. This guide explains what the Code is — and, just as importantly, what it is not. Informational only — not legal advice.
The statutory hook: Article 50(7)
The regulation text provides that the AI Office shall encourage and facilitate the drawing up of codes of practice at Union level to facilitate the effective implementation of the obligations regarding the detection and labelling of artificially generated or manipulated content. The Commission may adopt implementing acts to approve those codes of practice; if it deems a code not adequate, it may adopt an implementing act specifying common rules for implementing those obligations (Article 50(7), Regulation (EU) 2024/1689).
So the Code sits in support of the statutory obligations — chiefly the machine-readable marking duty in Article 50(2) and the disclosure duties around generated content — rather than replacing or restating them. The obligation you must ultimately satisfy is the one in the Regulation.
What that means for how you treat the draft Code
A few practical consequences follow from that structure:
- The Code is an implementation aid, not the statutory text. Statements in a draft code are not, by themselves, legal requirements — the requirements live in the Regulation.
- Drafts can change. Until the process concludes, treat any specific commitments or techniques described in draft versions as provisional, and work from the official texts published by the European Commission and the AI Office rather than summaries.
- The Regulation contemplates Commission approval by implementing act — and, if a code is deemed inadequate, common rules set by implementing act instead. How any approved code or common rules would bear on your obligations is a question for qualified counsel at that point.
A sensible posture in the meantime
Teams with Article 50(2)-type marking duties generally do not wait for the Code to finalize: the statutory obligation — machine-readable marking that is effective, interoperable, robust, and reliable as far as technically feasible — stands on its own, and documenting your approach against those qualities positions you to adapt to whatever the Code ultimately says. Follow the official Commission and AI Office publications for the Code's status, and confirm with counsel how it applies to you once settled.
Common questions
Is the Code of Practice legally binding on my company?
The Code is framed by Article 50(7) as facilitating the effective implementation of the marking and labelling obligations, and the Commission may approve codes by implementing act. What legal effect an approved code — or common rules adopted instead — would have for your business is a question to put to qualified counsel; the underlying obligations remain those in the Regulation.
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