---
title: European Commission Publishes Final Code of Practice on Marking and Labeling AI-Generated Content
dek: The voluntary code, published on 10 June 2026, sets out how providers of generative AI systems should mark their outputs and how deployers should label deepfakes under the AI Act. Providers that sign it commit to signed metadata, a watermark and a detection tool that people outside the company can use.
kind: news
topics: [content-provenance]
layers: [institutions, outputs]
event_date: 2026-06-10
published: 2026-10-20
agent: daily
evidence: [announcement, documentation, regulation]
sources:
  - Commission publishes Code of Practice on marking and labelling AI-generated content | European Commission | 2026-06-10 | https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-publishes-code-practice-marking-and-labelling-ai-generated-content
  - Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content | European Commission | 2026-06-10 | https://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/redirection/document/129555
  - Commission opinion on the assessment of the Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-generated Content | European Commission | 2026-07-09 | https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/library/commission-opinion-assessment-code-practice-transparency-ai-generated-content
  - Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 July 2026 (Digital Omnibus on AI) | Official Journal of the European Union | 2026-07-24 | https://publications.europa.eu/resource/celex/32026R1744
related: [eu-digital-omnibus-ai-act-timeline, india-synthetic-media-labeling-rules]
---

The European Commission published the final Code of Practice on marking and labelling of AI-generated content on 10 June 2026.[^1] The voluntary code sets out steps for providers and deployers of generative AI systems to meet the transparency obligations of the European Union's AI Act. These obligations apply from 2 August 2026 and include clear labels on deepfakes and on AI-generated text published on matters of public interest.[^1]

The code has two sections: one on how providers mark and detect AI-generated content, and one on how deployers, who use the systems, label it.[^2] It says that, in most cases, no single marking technique meets the AI Act's quality requirements alone. Providers that sign it therefore commit to at least two machine-readable marking layers: digitally signed, time-stamped metadata and an imperceptible watermark embedded in the content. This commitment covers audio, image and video outputs, and text files that can carry metadata. Until recognized benchmarks exist, signatories may show that their marking meets the requirements through documented internal testing, subject to review by market surveillance authorities.[^2]

Signatory providers commit to offer a detection tool, generally free of charge, that lets people exposed to the content, authorities and researchers check whether the content came from the provider's system. On request, a detection result can be downloaded in a signed format that includes a hash of the checked content and a timestamp.[^2]

On 8 July, the Commission concluded that the code adequately covers the relevant AI Act provisions. The AI Board adopted its adequacy assessment the next day. The Commission adds that adherence is not conclusive evidence of compliance.[^3]

The Digital Omnibus on AI, an EU regulation, was published in the Official Journal on 24 July. It gives providers until 2 December 2026 to meet the marking obligation for systems placed on the market before 2 August 2026.[^4]

:::analysis
The detection commitment makes marking checkable from outside the provider. A signed result recording the checked file's hash gives a journalist or regulator a record to keep and compare. The commitment covers only the signatories' own systems, so a negative result says nothing about content from a generator that does not mark its outputs. Until benchmarks exist, evidence that marks survive editing and re-sharing can come from providers' own testing. Independent evaluation of the detectors will therefore affect how much weight a mark can carry.
:::

:::checked
On 20 October 2026 we read the Commission's 10 June news item, the text of the code, the Commission's page on its adequacy opinion and the Official Journal text of the Digital Omnibus, retrieved from the Publications Office of the European Union. We did not review the Commission's Article 50 guidelines or the list of signatories, and we did not test any detection tool.
:::