Overview
- The Munich Regional Court found that both memorization within the model and reproduction of lyrics in outputs infringe authors’ exploitation rights.
- Presiding Judge Elke Schwager ordered OpenAI to pay damages for unlicensed use of protected works, with the amount not disclosed.
- The lawsuit by music rights society GEMA focused on nine German songs, including works by Herbert Grönemeyer, and the court rejected shifting liability to users.
- OpenAI said it disagrees with the decision, is considering an appeal, and described the ruling as limited to a narrow set of lyrics.
- GEMA and media groups cast the judgment as a potential European precedent that could spur licensing negotiations and further cases.