OpenAI Loses Copyright Case In Germany Over Use Of Lyrics

A Munich court determined on Tuesday, November 11, that OpenAI violated German copyright regulations through the incorporation of song lyrics into the training process for its AI systems.

“Both the memorisation in the language models and the reproduction of the song lyrics in the chatbot’s outputs constitute infringements of copyright law,” the court declared during proceedings initiated by the German musical organization GEMA.

GEMA, an entity boasting over 100,000 members including composers, songwriters, and publishers, stands in for the creators of nine German tracks involved in this legal action.

OpenAI has encountered multiple lawsuits within the United States, where various media outlets and writers are asserting that the firm’s ChatGPT tool was developed using their materials absent any authorization.

However, according to GEMA, this Munich proceeding marks the initial significant instance of such litigation across Europe.

GEMA’s Kai Welp commented following a September session that the matter might carry “vital implications for the remuneration of creative artists”.

In November 2024, GEMA launched legal action against OpenAI, alleging the reproduction of safeguarded song lyrics without acquiring necessary licenses or compensating the originators.

As per a prior judicial filing, the organization asserted that OpenAI had “systematically” employed its collection of works for AI model development.

The court noted that OpenAI contended it committed no legal violation since its language systems avoid retaining or duplicating particular information, instead embodying in their configurations the knowledge acquired through training.

Concerning the AI conversational interface, OpenAI maintained that the individuals using it generate the resulting content and bear accountability for it.

Nevertheless, the court decided on Tuesday that those bringing the suit deserve remuneration “both on the basis of the reproduction of the texts in the language models and their reproduction in the outputs”.

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