No. Participation in the Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content is voluntary. Compliance with applicable obligations in Article 50 is not.
Law and implementation route
The AI Act is a legally binding regulation. The Code of Practice is a voluntary tool describing practical measures that providers and deployers can use to show how they implement the transparency obligations.
Two routes
Follow the Code
An organisation may sign the relevant parts of the Code and use the described measures to demonstrate its approach to compliance.
Use an independent approach
An organisation may also use another method. It remains responsible for ensuring and substantiating an adequate implementation of the applicable legal obligations.
The method is voluntary; the legal outcome is mandatory whenever Article 50 applies to the situation.
What does this Code cover?
The Code contains a part for providers on machine-readable marking and detection, and a part for deployers on the disclosure of deepfakes and certain AI-generated or manipulated texts.
Do not confuse it with the GPAI Code
There is also a General-Purpose AI Code of Practice for providers of general-purpose AI models. That code supports the implementation of Articles 53 and 55, among others, and addresses a different audience.
Official sources
- European Commission: Code of Practice on Transparency of AI-Generated Content
- European Commission: signing and its effects
- European Commission: General-Purpose AI Code of Practice
This explanation is general and does not constitute legal advice.