# AI tools already on sale must mark their output by 2 December

A four-month grace period ends for generative systems placed on the EU market before 2 August 2026.

Published 3 November 2026 by EuGFA in The Briefing. Interests: Policy.

## What happened

Article 50(2) of the AI Act requires providers of systems that generate synthetic audio, image, video or text to mark the output in a machine-readable format, detectable as artificially generated. The duty has applied since 2 August 2026.

Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, the Digital Omnibus on AI of 8 July 2026, appeared in the Official Journal on 24 July. Its recital 38 grants a four-month transitional period to providers whose systems were already on the market before 2 August. As of 3 November, the Commission's FAQ on the code of practice dates the end of that period to 2 December 2026.

## Why it matters

From 2 December, every generator offered in the EU must mark its output, whatever its release date, unless it only assists standard editing. Content generated and made available before 2 August 2026 does not need to be marked retroactively, according to the Commission's FAQ on signing the code.

The mark is the provider's duty. Disclosure is the maker's: under Article 50(4), a deployer who publishes a deepfake must say so, and in an evidently artistic or fictional work that disclosure may be made in a way that does not hamper the display or enjoyment of the work.

## Still open

The Regulation's recital sets the transition at four months; the 2 December end date appears in the Commission's FAQ. The Commission's FAQ pages name no marking technique, so whether a given mark survives re-editing or export in a maker's own software is not answered there.

## For your film

Before 2 December, log the generator and version behind each generated shot in the edit, so marked and unmarked material can be told apart in a disclosure statement.

## Read further

- [Commission FAQ on the code of practice for AI-generated content](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/faqs/code-practice-transparency-ai-generated-content)
- [Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 in the Official Journal](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=OJ:L_202601744)
- [Article 50 of the AI Act](https://artificialintelligenceact.eu/article/50/)
- [Guidelines on transparency obligations for AI-generated content](https://eugfa.org/discourse/eu-ai-act-transparency-guidelines). Official framing of Article 50 transparency rules, including how artistic and fictional deepfake-like works are treated. Essential European policy context for makers.