1 Artificial Intelligence

Question: Are there any laws or prospective laws relating to the use or effect of AI?

In March 2024, the European Union passed the Artificial Intelligence Act. This Act has already entered into force and is applicable in Spain, although a gradual adoption of its provisions is foreseen.

The Act regulates AI systems based on the risks that AI could pose to the fundamental rights of citizens. To do so, it analyzes their functions and purposes. The Act establishes four levels of risk: (i) minimal risk; (ii) high risk: before being marketed, they will be subject to a conformity assessment; (iii) inadmissible risk: those that violate fundamental rights and, consequently, are prohibited (for example, an AI that performs emotion recognition in the workplace or educational institution, for no justifiable reason); and (iv) specific risk for transparency: when there is a risk of manipulation, specific obligations are imposed (for example, users must be aware that they are interacting with a conversational robot). Fines are also envisaged for those AI systems that do not comply with the requirements of the Act.

Given its recent adoption, there is no case law relating to the application of the Act by Spanish Courts.  

Question: Has your country/governing body for lawyers, set out any criteria affecting lawyers in respect of the use of AI?

No, no criteria have been adopted for the use of AI.

However, we do see the progressive increase of Legal Tech tools, which facilitate and complement the work of lawyers.

On the other hand, several topics deriving from the application of AI in the legal field are very heavily discussed in legal forums these days. One of them, with direct impact in the IP world, is the ownership of works produced by AI.

Question: Has your country/governing body made any provisions regarding the impact of AI on existing privacy legislation?

No modifications have been made regarding the impact of AI. Consequently, the existing contractual and non-contractual civil liability systems will apply in case of damage caused by AI systems.

It should be noted that the European Union is drafting a Directive on liability for artificial intelligence. The purpose is to make it easier for individuals to seek compensation for damages caused by high-risk AI systems, to regulate effective means of identifying potentially liable persons and to obtain evidence relevant to the claim for damages.

2 Deepfakes

Question: Do you deal with deepfakes regularly and have you needed to develop quick but effective strategies to protect and defend the brand’s image in this space? Can you summarize?

We have had cases of deepfakes used to falsify some of our clients´ profiles on social media platforms.

It is important to note that in October 2023 a draft law that regulates deepfakes was submitted to Congress (under Nº 122/000011). It establishes, among other points, the use of deepfakes as a criminal offense and the possibility of requiring the removal of deepfakes as a specific precautionary measure in civil procedure. This shows that Spain recognizes the problem and is establishing measures for its regulation.

3 Crypto technology

Question: Are there any laws or prospective laws relating to crypto technology?

In April 2023 the Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto assets (MiCA) was approved. The Regulation is directly applicable in Spain. Its entry into force has been organized in two stages, during 2024 and 2025.

The Regulation regulates the issuance, offer to the public and admission to trading of crypto assets, as well as the provision of services related to them. At the same time, it establishes obligations for service providers, which must be previously registered, as well as have management bodies, insurance policies and clear procedures for the resolution of customer disputes. Likewise, the advertising of cryptoassets is limited to the prior publication of a White Book, which must contain the main information on the characteristics and underlying technology of the currency.

4 Digital content piracy

Question: Are there any laws or prospective laws relating to the streaming of content piracy?

Yes, there are laws that protect intellectual property rights holders against the illegal reproduction of their content via streaming. Some of the main ones are: (i) Law 1/2000, of 7 January, on Civil Procedure; (ii) Royal Decree of 14 September 1882 approving the Code of Criminal Procedure; (iii) Legislative Decree 1/1996, of April 12, 1996, approving the revised text of the Intellectual Property Law, regularizing, clarifying, and harmonizing the legal provisions in force on the matter; and (iv) Law 34/2002, of 11 July, on Information Society Services and Electronic Commerce.

Question: Are site blocking orders available in your jurisdiction. What remedies exist in your jurisdiction to prevent the pirated stream of content.

Yes, blocking orders are available in Spain. There are two ways to request them: (i) through a judicial proceeding, where precautionary measures or cease of use actions can be requested; (ii) through an administrative proceeding, in which the safeguarding of rights in the digital environment is required to the Second Section of the Intellectual Property Commission.

The most recognized case is the enforcement carried out by LaLiga, the entity managing professional soccer competitions in Spain, against websites that illegally broadcast soccer matches. LaLiga has been able to (i) block websites, even by means of “dynamic blocking” precautionary measures, which implies identifying new URLs, domains and/or IP addresses, without the need to go to court; (ii) block bars/restaurants that broadcast soccer matches from illegal pages; and (iii) in a first instance decision that is not yet final (it was issued in March 2024), they were granted the possibility to require internet access operators to share the IP address of users who shared the content illegally [It remains to be seen how the case will develop as a Supreme Court ruling dated October 3, 2014 stablished that the IP must be considered as personal data and, therefore, access to it is shielded].

5 QR code abuse

Question: Are rights holders/clients noticing an increase in QR Code abuse tactics in online phishing scams?

Yes. The reality is that everything that is visible to an infringer is target to copying and falsifying. Hence, infringers also copy QR-Codes. The problem is that if an original QR-Code is simply copied, it will also point to the webpage of the legitimate brand, therefore leading consumers to think the product in question is original. That is why many right holders are indeed noticing an increase in this kind of brand abuse.

However, mechanisms exist that prohibit copying a code several times, such like the one which renders the code unreadable after a third copy of same. Brand owners are constantly developing technical features to limit the impact the abuse of this technology can affect on them.