A regional court in Munich has ruled that OpenAI's ChatGPT violated German copyright laws by reproducing lyrics from songs by Herbert Groenemeyer and other artists. As per Reuters, the court found that the company trained its AI on protected content from nine German songs, including hits like "Maenner" and "Bochum."
The case was brought by German music rights society GEMA, representing composers, lyricists, and publishers. The court ordered OpenAI to pay damages for the use of copyrighted material, though the exact amount was not disclosed. GEMA also hopes this ruling will open discussions on how copyright holders can be fairly compensated.
Possible European precedent
Meanwhile, OpenAI had argued that its language models do not store or copy specific data but generate outputs based on patterns learned from large datasets. However, the court concluded that both memorization in AI models and reproduction of song lyrics constitute copyright infringements.
GEMA CEO Tobias Holzmueller emphasizes that creative works are not free templates, highlighting the ruling as a precedent for AI companies in Europe. OpenAI states it disagrees with the decision and is considering an appeal, noting the case involves a limited set of lyrics and does not affect the millions of users in Germany. Who do you think is right in this case?