A court in Munich has ruled that OpenAI breached copyright law in Germany by using protected song lyrics to train its artificial intelligence models.
The ruling, delivered on Tuesday, November 11, marks a significant legal development in Europe’s evolving debate over AI and intellectual property.
According to the court, “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 case was brought by GEMA, Germany’s leading music rights organisation representing more than 100,000 composers, songwriters, and publishers, on behalf of nine German artists.
GEMA filed the lawsuit in November 2024, accusing OpenAI of reproducing protected lyrics without licences or payment to creators. The group alleged that OpenAI had “systematically” used its repertoire to train AI models.
OpenAI argued that it had not violated copyright laws, asserting that its models do not store or directly copy content but rather learn patterns reflected in their parameters. The company also maintained that users, not the model itself, are responsible for any copyrighted material generated by the chatbot.
However, the Munich court rejected these arguments, ruling that GEMA and its members are entitled to compensationfor both the use of their lyrics in training and their appearance in AI-generated outputs.
GEMA spokesperson Kai Welp previously stated that the case could have “vital implications for the remuneration of creative artists” in the age of generative AI.
The decision is the first major ruling of its kind in Europe, and could set a precedent for how courts across the continent handle copyright claims involving AI training data.
OpenAI is already facing several similar lawsuits in the United States, including cases brought by media organisations and authors who allege their works were used without consent.
