FTC and EU Rules Force Brands to Rethink AI-Generated Content Disclosures
Marketing teams producing AI-generated user-generated content face tightening disclosure requirements from U.S. and European regulators. GetHookd released a compliance guide May 27 outlining when brands must label AI content, where those labels must appear, and what copyright protections apply.
The Federal Trade Commission finalized rules targeting fake reviews and AI-generated testimonials in August 2024, with enforcement beginning that October. The European Union's AI Act entered force around the same time, introducing transparency obligations for AI-generated media in commercial communications starting in February 2025.
Disclosure Rules Are Stricter Than Most Brands Think
The FTC's disclosure trigger isn't based on how much human editing follows AI generation. It's based on how a reasonable consumer would interpret the content. If someone would see AI-generated material as a genuine human review, testimonial, or endorsement, disclosure is required.
Placement matters as much as the disclosure itself. Labels must appear before a consumer engages with the content - in the first line of a social post or within the opening seconds of a video. Hiding disclosures in caption overflow text or at the end of a post doesn't meet compliance standards.
Copyright Protection Depends on Human Input
Purely AI-generated content with no meaningful human creative input receives no copyright protection under U.S. Copyright Office guidance. Anyone can freely copy or redistribute it.
Only elements reflecting genuine human authorship - edits, selections, creative arrangements - may qualify for protection. This makes documenting the production process essential for both legal protection and compliance verification.
One Global Standard Simplifies Compliance
For teams operating across multiple markets, the guide recommends applying the strictest applicable standard everywhere rather than managing separate protocols by jurisdiction. Where EU AI Act requirements are more demanding than FTC rules, meeting the EU standard effectively satisfies both.
GetHookd's platform includes access to a searchable database of more than 65 million Meta ads. Marketing teams can use these features to study how brands in their category currently structure and disclose AI-assisted creatives before building their own campaigns.
More details are available in GetHookd's full compliance guide.
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