Is licensing a deceased performer's likeness legal in the EU?
It depends on the country. There is no single EU-wide post-mortem likeness right. Protection comes from national law, so licensing a deceased performer's likeness is possible where the relevant country gives the estate enforceable rights, and you must check that jurisdiction.
Why there is no single EU answer
Image and personality rights are governed by national law, not harmonized across the EU. Each member state decides whether a person’s likeness is protected, who controls it, and for how long after death.
Data-protection law does not fill the gap: GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) applies to living people, and its Recital 27 leaves rules on the deceased to each member state. So the performer’s nationality, where they died, and where the content is published all matter.
Where post-mortem control is stronger or weaker
Several civil-law countries recognize heritable image or personality rights that pass to heirs for a period after death. In Spain, the right to one’s own image survives death and is exercised by the heirs under Ley Orgánica 1/1982. In Germany, §22 of the Kunsturhebergesetz (KUG) requires the relatives’ consent to use a person’s image for ten years after death, and the Federal Court of Justice held in the Marlene Dietrich case (1999) that the commercial side of personality rights is inheritable.
Terms vary widely, and outside the EU they can be far longer: Mexico protects an author’s economic rights for 100 years after death. So the practical question is not "is it legal" but "does this estate hold enforceable rights in the countries that matter for this deal".
What the estate actually needs
To license a likeness, the estate needs a clear, documented chain of authority: who inherited the rights, evidence of that succession, and written authorization to represent and license. Reference material (verified photos, voice samples) and a record of consent strengthen any claim.
Separately, the EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Article 50) will require AI-generated deepfakes to be labelled as artificial, which is a transparency duty on the content, not a substitute for the underlying likeness licence. talicense registers the likeness and the authority behind it, anchors that record, and enables licensing where the underlying rights exist.
Common questions
Can anyone use a dead celebrity’s face for AI?
Not freely where the estate holds enforceable rights (for example Spain’s LO 1/1982 or Germany’s KUG §22). Copyright in associated works, trademark in a name, and consumer-protection or unfair-competition rules can also apply even where a dedicated likeness right does not.
Does data-protection law (GDPR) protect a deceased person’s image?
GDPR generally applies to living people; Recital 27 leaves the deceased to national law. Some member states extend protections after death, so this varies by country.
How long do post-mortem rights last?
It varies widely: ten years in Germany under KUG §22, the heirs’ lifetime-plus under Spain’s LO 1/1982, up to 100 years post-death for economic rights in Mexico, depending on the law that applies.
Sources
Primary legislation and authoritative references. Laws change; confirm the current text and its application with qualified counsel.
- Spain — Ley Orgánica 1/1982, de protección civil del derecho al honor, a la intimidad personal y familiar y a la propia imagen (BOE)
- Germany — Kunsturhebergesetz (KUG) §22 (image rights, 10 years post-mortem) — Gesetze im Internet
- Germany — Federal Court of Justice, "Marlene Dietrich" (BGH, 1999): commercial personality rights are heritable (UT Austin translation)
- EU — GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), Recital 27 (does not apply to the deceased; left to member states) — EUR-Lex
- EU — AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689), Article 50 (deepfake transparency/labelling)
- Mexico — Ley Federal del Derecho de Autor, art. 29 (economic rights, 100 years post-mortem) — Cámara de Diputados
General information, not legal advice. Likeness and image rights vary by country. Confirm specifics with qualified counsel.