A German court ruled that technology company OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot violated German copyright law by using popular songs from a number of well-known musicians to train its artificial intelligence (AI) model.
As reported by The Guardian on Wednesday, the court ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by the German music copyright management body, Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte (GEMA). In its lawsuit, GEMA accused ChatGPT of taking and using copyrighted song lyrics from artists without permission.
GEMA, which represents around 100,000 composers, songwriters, and music publishers, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in November 2024. The case is considered a legal test in Europe to stop the practice of training AI models using creative works without the copyright owner's consent.
The court ordered OpenAI to pay an undisclosed amount in damages for the unauthorized use of copyrighted material. The San Francisco-based technology company can still appeal the decision.