Recommendations of the Editorial team
Artificial intelligence applications are not allowed to use song lyrics without having a license – this is what the Munich Regional Court has decided. The ChatGPT developer suffered a defeat in the lawsuit brought by the music rights exploiter GEMA against OpenAI.
The court found that AI’s unlicensed use of song lyrics constituted a violation of German copyright law, as the “Tagesschau” reported.
OpenAI has now been ordered to pay damages because of this use. This means that the ChatGPT developer is largely subject to GEMA.
The regional court followed the collecting society’s argument. This had claimed that the automatic use of song lyrics by ChatGPT constituted unlawful reproduction and reproduction.
Trial over nine song lyrics, including by Grönemeyer
According to “Tagesschau”, the proceedings involved the use of nine song lyrics – including “Männer” by Herbert Grönemeyer, “Über den Wolken” by Reinhard Mey and “In der Weihnachtsbäckerei” by Rolf Zuckowski. The texts were used to train ChatGPT. According to GEMA, they were then returned exactly or at least largely identically in response to requests to the system.
GEMA demanded license fees
GEMA did not object to the use itself, but demanded license fees for the authors. According to the court, OpenAI referred to “barriers to copyright law, in particular the barrier to so-called text and data mining,” during the hearing. Not OpenAI, but the respective user is the manufacturer of the output and therefore responsible.
Judge: “Acquire them and don’t use other people’s property”
Judge Schwager explained that we were dealing with a highly intelligent company that was able to develop the most modern technologies. It is therefore astonishing that she does not realize that if you want to build something and need components, “then purchase them and not use other people’s property.”
Decided in favor of creatives for the first time?
GEMA is satisfied with the verdict. For the first time in Europe, the use of copyrighted works by generative AI systems has been legally assessed and decided in favor of creative people, said the Society for Musical Performance and Mechanical Reproduction Rights.
“The Internet is not a self-service shop”
“The Internet is not a self-service shop and human creative services are not a free template. Today we have created a precedent that protects and clarifies the rights of authors: operators of AI tools such as ChatGPT must also adhere to copyright law. Today we were able to successfully defend the livelihoods of music creators,” said Tobias Holzmüller, Managing Director of GEMA.
“Today’s ruling has clarified for the first time central legal questions regarding the interaction of a new technology with European copyright law. It is a milestone on the way to fair remuneration for authors throughout Europe,” adds GEMA General Counsel Kai Welp. “Tech giants also have to acquire licenses for the use of intellectual property and cannot avoid their obligations.”
OpenAI is probably being revised
The judgment is not final; Presumably OpenAI will challenge it. Both parties had previously suggested that the case be referred to the European Court of Justice because of its fundamental importance.
According to GEMA, OpenAI is one of the global market leaders in generative AI and already generates annual sales in the double-digit billion range. The company’s valuation is around half a trillion dollars. However, music creators have not yet benefited from the commercial use of their works through AI.
The fundamental debate remains
Since September 2024, GEMA says it has been offering a license model specifically developed for AI providers. This means that the use of music for the operation and further development of AI is legally possible; Music creators would be fairly involved and innovation would remain encouraged. However, OpenAI has so far not been willing to license its model.
The trial between GEMA and OpenAI is not the only case before the Munich Regional Court that deals with the AI use of works from the GEMA repertoire. According to GEMA, another case is pending against Suno Inc., a US provider of AI-generated audio content. According to GEMA, it has been proven that Suno’s AI tool was trained with original recordings of works from the GEMA repertoire and reproduces confusingly similar versions. The hearing is expected to take place on January 26, 2026.