Is face swapping legal? Consent and ethics
This is general information to help you think through a genuinely important question — it isn't legal advice for your specific situation or jurisdiction. If you need a definitive answer for a particular use, a qualified lawyer is the right person to ask, not a FAQ page.
The law varies a lot by place
Rules around synthetic media, likeness rights, and "deepfakes" differ significantly between countries, and even between states or regions within the same country. Some places have specific statutes about non-consensual synthetic intimate imagery or election-related synthetic media; others rely on older laws around defamation, harassment, or right-of-publicity that weren't written with this technology in mind. There's no single global answer to "is this legal" — it depends on where you are, where the people depicted are, and exactly what you made.
What doesn't vary: Recast's own rule
Regardless of what the law in any particular place does or doesn't explicitly cover, Recast requires consent from everyone whose face or voice appears in a result — the original subject and the replacement, both. This isn't contingent on local law catching up; it's the baseline Recast operates on everywhere, all the time.
Why watermarking is the real safeguard
The most serious legal and ethical risk with synthetic media isn't really the technology itself — it's deception. A convincing fake that nobody knows is fake is what causes real harm: reputational damage, fraud, non-consensual exploitation, political manipulation. A visibly labeled "AI-modified" result, by contrast, can't be mistaken for authentic footage by anyone who sees the label — which is exactly why every Recast result is watermarked, with no way to turn that off. It's not a decoration; it's the thing that separates a disclosed edit from a deception.
Situations worth thinking carefully about
• Using someone's likeness for a joke they haven't seen or agreed to, even among friends — "they'll probably be fine with it" isn't the same as actually asking.
• Public figures and celebrities are not an exception to consent — their fame doesn't grant permission, and impersonating them to deceive is explicitly against our Terms.
• Anything involving a minor, in any capacity, is prohibited outright — not a legal gray area, a hard line.
• Political content intended to deceive — fabricated statements or events involving public figures — is prohibited regardless of your own view of the subject.
The practical takeaway
Get real, actual agreement from everyone whose likeness you're using — not an assumption that they'd be okay with it. If you wouldn't feel comfortable asking them directly, that's usually a sign not to proceed. See our Terms of Service for the full prohibited-use list, and our Responsible Use page if you ever need to report content or request something be removed.
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