- The Council of Ministers approved the draft law updating the honour, privacy and image act, in force since 1982.
- Using a person’s voice or image for commercial purposes without authorisation will be unlawful, including through artificial intelligence.
- Companies with advertising, content or social media will need to look after permissions and their scope.
On 13 January 2026 the Council of Ministers reviewed the draft organic law on the civil protection of the right to honour, personal and family privacy and one’s own image, which would replace the 1982 act. It was presented by the Minister for the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, Félix Bolaños, as one of the milestones of the Democracy Action Plan of September 2024. It is still a draft: the reports and preliminary input now begin before the text returns to the Council of Ministers.
The text deems unlawful the use of a person’s voice or image for commercial or advertising purposes without authorisation, and the Government expressly links this to artificial intelligence technologies. It allows exceptions: public figures may appear in creative, satirical or fictional works if the use of the technology is disclosed, and there is no intrusion where the public interest prevails, particularly news value. The same day the Government approved the bill on the right of rectification, which would extend that right to high-reach social media users, from 100,000 followers on one platform or 200,000 in total.
A 1982 law in the digital age
The current law was passed when neither the internet nor social media existed, and the courts have adapted it case by case. The draft introduces clearer criteria: from the age of 16, minors could consent to the use of their own image, although that consent does not allow an intrusion on their honour, and sharing personal or family photographs on a social network does not amount to unlimited authorisation, because consent is limited to that particular network.
For a company, this touches everyday matters: team photographs on social media, customer testimonials, corporate videos or campaigns with synthetic voices and images. What was authorised for one use is not understood as authorised for all, and the more precise the written authorisation, the less there will be to argue about later.
Deceased persons, victims and compensation
The text widens who can defend the honour and image of a deceased person, including unmarried partners, and allows a will to prohibit commercial or advertising use of voice and image. It is a development with asset value: the image and voice of a well-known person can be an asset, and whoever manages them should know on what terms and for how long.
It also sets criteria for weighing the seriousness of intrusions, in line with the case law of the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, prohibits symbolic compensation and allows the identity of a convicted person to be published in the official gazette. And it deems it unlawful for someone who committed a crime to exploit it later in series or artistic works if it harms the victim.
What to review
If your company hires models, actors, content creators or voice artists, it is worth checking that contracts specify the purpose, the media, the duration and whether they include uses with artificial intelligence, such as voice cloning or image generation. A generic image-rights clause may fall short under a more demanding rule.
Families with public figures, or with businesses built on a personal brand, may want to provide in their will for which uses of voice and image are allowed after death. As this is a draft, the final content may change; consult your adviser before amending contracts or testamentary provisions.
Each person’s voice and image belong to them, and technology does not change who must authorise their use.
This article is general information. It is not legal, tax or investment advice, and it does not take anyone’s particular circumstances into account.
