Aveus AI

Do I need to label my AI images?

A short guide for online stores that use AI images, built on the European Commission’s own documents.

Three questions for each image

The European Commission’s guidance on Article 50 of the EU AI Act comes down to three questions:

  1. Did AI create the image, or change what it shows? Cropping or colour correction does not count. If not, no label is needed.
  2. Could it pass as real, for example a product, a person or a place that looks like a photo? An obvious drawing usually cannot.
  3. Could it mislead your customer about what is real? A product that looks different or better than it is, or a model who does not exist, needs a label. A real product on an AI background that changes nothing about it may not.

You decide what to label. This is general guidance, not legal advice.

Good to know

  • Article 50 of the EU AI Act applies from 2 August 2026. A business that uses an AI tool in its work is what the Act calls a deployer, and showing the label is the deployer’s job.
  • Images made before 2 August 2026 do not have to be labelled retroactively, although the Commission encourages it where possible.
  • The later date of 2 December 2026 only concerns the hidden marks that makers of AI tools must add to their files, and only for tools already on the market before 2 August 2026. It does not move the date for the label you show.
  • The Commission publishes official EU icons for labelling AI content, free for anyone to use.

How Aveus helps

Aveus reads the signature an AI tool leaves inside each image file and shows the label on your Shopify store, with the official EU icon. It does not judge how an image looks: you can mark any image yourself, and you decide what gets labelled. The free plan includes up to 12 active labels.

Install free on Shopify

Official sources

This page explains the Commission’s published guidance in plain words. It is not legal advice, and what applies to your store depends on your images and how you use them.