US EditionOpenAI used song lyrics in violation of copyright laws, German court says
- On Tuesday, November 11, 2025, the Munich Regional Court ruled OpenAI infringed German authors' rights by using song lyrics without a licence, and Judge Elke Schwager ordered damages.
- GEMA filed its lawsuit in November 2024 after alleging ChatGPT memorised and reproduced lyrics from nine German songs, representing more than 100,000 composers and over two million copyright owners globally.
- The court found the lyrics were reproducibly contained in GPT 4 and 4o models, with Judge Elke Schwager astonished by OpenAI's disregard for clear law, saying `We have highly intelligent defendants who have managed to create the most modern of technologies`.
- The outcome could set a Europe-wide precedent for AI training on copyrighted works, with GEMA seeking a licensing framework and OpenAI facing payments of hundreds of thousands of euros.
- OpenAI said it disagrees with the ruling and is considering next steps, including appeal options, while similar legal fights unfold in New Delhi and against SunoAI, following Anthropic's loss earlier this year.
165 Articles
165 Articles
TechCrunch
Court rules that OpenAI violated German copyright law; ordered it to pay damages
A German court ruled that OpenAI’s ChatGPT violated the nation’s copyright laws by training its language models on licensed musical work without permission.
Zero Hedge
Nemos News NetworkChatGPT's Use Of Song Lyrics Violates Copyright, Munich Court Finds
ChatGPT's Use Of Song Lyrics Violates Copyright, Munich Court Finds Authored by Vince Dioquino via Decrypt.co, Judges found GEMA’s claims valid, ordering OpenAI to cease reproduction and provide damages and disclosure. The court said GPT-4 and GPT-4o “memorized” lyrics, amounting to reproduction under EU copyright rules. The decision, not yet final, could set a major European precedent on AI training data. Germany’s national music rights o…
A court has found that ChatGPT has been massively fed texts by Helene Fischer, Grönemeyer or Rolf Zuckowski. Poor AI! We should treat them more respectfully as long as we can.
OpenAI Ordered to Pay Damages In Landmark German Copyright Dispute Over Music Lyrics
A German court found that Quinn Emanuel client OpenAI used song lyrics without a license in breach of copyright law, marking a significant step toward setting legal boundaries for AI training in Europe but the decision is not yet legally binding.
The U.S. company will have to pay compensation to Germany’s largest music rights organization for using copyrighted lyrics Javier Bardem on Palestine: “As Spaniards, we know what impunity for crimes it has not dealt with” OpenAI will have to pay a license to use copyrighted song lyrics on its artificial intelligence models (IA), including ChatGPT. This has been ruled by a German court, which has ruled that ChatGPT has violated the copyright law …
A German court has ordered OpenAI to pay damages for violating the copyrights of German artists. This is the first time that a...
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