German Court Sides With Music Rights Group In OpenAI Copyright Case

Key Takeaways

A Munich court has ruled in favor of the German music rights society GEMA in a landmark copyright infringement case against OpenAI, marking one of Europe's first major legal decisions on artificial intelligence training with copyrighted materials.

The Munich Regional Court's 42nd Civil Chamber sided with GEMA in the dispute over OpenAI's use of protected German song lyrics to train its ChatGPT language model without obtaining licenses or paying compensation to rights holders.

Court signals OpenAI liability during September hearing

The case centered on allegations that OpenAI systematically used copyrighted song lyrics from GEMA's repertoire to train ChatGPT.

GEMA, which represents approximately 95,000 composers, lyricists, and music publishers in Germany, filed the lawsuit in November 2024 specifically targeting the use of lyrics from nine German songs.

During a hearing on September 29, 2025, Presiding Judge Dr. Elke Schwager indicated the court's position early in proceedings.

According to reports from the courtroom, she stated the facts were "not complicated," given that OpenAI did not dispute using copyrighted works to train its ChatGPT model.

The judges also expressed that they were "unpersuaded that users, not OpenAI, bear the responsibility for ChatGPT's outputs."

The court scheduled the formal ruling announcement for November 11, 2025.

Stakes and implications for the AI industry

GEMA's lawsuit focused on obtaining legal clarification rather than pursuing substantial damages. The formal dispute value was set at approximately €600,000 ($700,000), though both parties likely spent significantly more on litigation costs.

The collecting society sought to establish a framework for licensing negotiations with AI companies.

GEMA introduced a licensing model for generative AI in September 2024, designed to ensure fair compensation for creators whose works are used to train AI systems.

Several prominent German music artists supported the legal action, including Herbert Grönemeyer, Kristina Bach (known for "Atemlos"), Rolf Zuckowski, Reinhard Mey, and Inga Humpe.

The court rejected OpenAI's defense arguments, including claims that its large language models do not store or copy specific data but rather reflect patterns learned during training.

OpenAI also argued unsuccessfully that the text and data mining exception under EU copyright law applied to its AI training methods.

Potential consequences and broader legal landscape

The ruling could require OpenAI to negotiate a licensing agreement with GEMA to continue ChatGPT operations in Germany without restrictions.

Without such an agreement, the company faces potential injunction proceedings and contempt-of-court sanctions for unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted material.

Munich's Regional Court has emerged as a significant venue for intellectual property disputes, and this decision could establish it as a center for AI copyright litigation in Europe.

Other rights holders may pursue similar cases, potentially increasing settlement pressure on AI companies facing multiple legal actions globally.

GEMA has filed a separate lawsuit against AI music generator Suno, alleging that the platform creates audio output substantially similar to copyrighted musical compositions.

That case involves different copyright issues related to musical recordings rather than lyrics alone.

OpenAI faces numerous other copyright lawsuits worldwide, including actions from authors, newspapers, and media organizations claiming their content was used without permission to train AI models.

The company has secured some settlements, including a reported $1.5 billion agreement with book authors represented in a U.S. class action against AI company Anthropic.

The German ruling arrives as policymakers and courts internationally grapple with questions about how copyright law applies to AI training data.

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