EU AI Act Article 50 marking checker
Check an image file for machine-readable AI-provenance marking: C2PA Content Credentials, validated against the official trust lists, and the IPTC digital source type declaration. A marking check, not an AI detector, and not legal advice.
The image is processed for this check and is not retained.
What this checks
EU AI Act Article 50(2) expects providers of generative AI systems to mark their outputs in a machine-readable format so the outputs are detectable as artificially generated or manipulated. This tool checks one image file for that marking: a C2PA Content Credential (cryptographically validated against the official C2PA and CAI trust lists) and the IPTC digital source type declaration (for example trainedAlgorithmicMedia, the code for content created by generative AI), whether it appears inside a C2PA manifest or in plain XMP metadata. Software tags are shown as context only.
What this does not tell you
This is a marking check, not an AI detector. Absence of marking is not evidence an image is or is not AI-generated: marking is commonly stripped by resizing, re-saving, screenshots, and most social platforms, and most generators outside the large providers write none. Presence of marking in plain XMP without a Content Credential is editable metadata, not proof. This page is informational and is not legal advice; there is no such thing as an Article 50 certification, and a file-level check is one input to a compliance process, not the process.
Timing
Article 50 applies from August 2, 2026. Under the AI Omnibus package adopted in June 2026, generative AI systems already on the market before that date have until December 2, 2026 to meet the machine-readable marking requirement, and the European Commission's implementing guidelines are still pending. The separate Article 50(4) disclosure duties for deployers of manipulated media are not covered by this tool.
Common questions
Does no marking found mean the image is not AI-generated?
No. It means the file carries no machine-readable declaration. Marking is commonly stripped in transit, and many generators write none. Treat absence as absence of evidence, nothing more.
What counts as machine-readable marking?
In practice: a C2PA Content Credential whose manifest declares how the content was made, and the IPTC digital source type vocabulary (trainedAlgorithmicMedia for generative AI, compositeWithTrainedAlgorithmicMedia for composites) in a manifest or in XMP. A validated Content Credential is the strong form, because it is cryptographically signed; a bare XMP tag can be edited by anyone.
When does Article 50 actually apply?
It applies from August 2, 2026. The AI Omnibus package adopted in June 2026 gives generative AI systems already on the market until December 2, 2026 to meet the marking requirement, and Commission guidelines are still pending, so check the current state of the law before relying on any date.
Is this a compliance certification?
No, and no such certification exists. This is a free, informational file check. For a documented workflow, the ChronoVerify API returns the full validation result and can issue a signed, timestamped audit report of each check.
Checking marking at scale? One API call validates Content Credentials and returns a verdict, and a signed, timestamped audit report documents each check. See compliance and Article 50, or get an API key.
Try the free verifier