On March 11, 2025, the third draft of the general-purpose AI Code of Practice (“Code“) was published by the European Office for Artificial Intelligence. This proposal represents the final drafting phase of the Code, developed by four working groups led by independent experts representing EU Member States, which develops a set of guidelines with important legal implications.
Legal context
Article 56 of the Artificial Intelligence Act (“AIA“), regulates the creation of the Code in order to facilitate the correct application of the AIA by providing clear guidelines on regulatory compliance. In this regard, the Code should specify how providers of general-purpose AI models can adhere to the obligations set forth in Articles 53 and 55 of the same AIA. The European Office for Artificial Intelligence will conduct queries prior to the final adoption of the Code.
Third draft of the Code
The third draft of the Code provides detailed measures to implement commitments regarding (1) transparency, (2) copyright and (3) security for all providers of general-purpose AI models
In this insight we will focus on the measures related to the (1) transparency and (2) copyright commitments to be adopted by providers of general-purpose AI models that adhere to the Code. The European Office for Artificial Intelligence will conduct consultations prior to the final adoption of the Code.
Transparency
Article 53.1(a) and (b) of the AIA imposes a transparency obligation on the provider of general-purpose AI models with regard to information and documentation. In order to comply with this obligation, the Code includes a section establishing a documentation commitment for the provider of general-purpose AI models, which must be implemented based on the following three measures:
- Develop and maintain up-to-date documentation of the AI model. In particular, a document entitled “Information and Documentation on the General Purpose AI Model” should be developed. To facilitate this process, the Code provides a sample form that includes all the information to be documented.
- Publish on the website, or through other means if they do not have one, a contact available for the AI Office and other providers to request relevant information on the AI model documentation.
- Ensure that documented information is accurate, complete and protected against accidental modification.
Copyrights
Article 53.1(c) of the AIA imposes on the provider of general-purpose AI models a commitment to comply with Copyright. In order for providers to comply with this commitment, the Code details the following measures:
- Develop, update and implement a copyright policy that complies with EU regulations. This policy shall be formally documented and shall assign responsibilities within the organization for its implementation.
- Do not elude technological protection measures or access restricted content to ensure the legal use of protected works in data mining and AI model training. In addition, reasonable efforts should be made to avoid the tracking of copyright infringing domains on a commercial scale.
- Identify and respect reservations of rights expressed in machine-readable format. To do so, providers must use web scrappers that comply with the Bots Exclusion Protocol (robots.txt) and other appropriate protocols.
Key aspects to consider:
- The European Office for Artificial Intelligence will conduct queries prior to final adoption of the Code (written comments will be received by March 30, 2025).
- The AI Code of Practice establishes guidelines for transparency and respect for copyright in general-purpose AI models.
- Providers should document their AI models and ensure that the information is accessible and accurate.
- Copyright protection is strengthened, preventing the misuse of protected content in the training of AI models.
- The implementation of the Code will promote an ethical and regulated development of AI within the EU.
- According to the AIA (art. 56), the codes of practice must be ready by May 2, 2025 to give suppliers sufficient time before the new regulation becomes applicable on August 2, 2025.
From Across Legal, we offer specialized advice for:
- Evaluate compliance with the provisions of the AI Code of Practices.
- Implement internal policies aligned with EU regulations on transparency and copyright.
- Develop strategies for documentation and dissemination of information on AI models.
- Review contracts and license agreements to ensure copyright protection.
- Provide training to technical and legal teams on the obligations established in the AIA.
