Munich Court Finds ChatGPT Liable for Copyright Infringement Over Reproduced Song Lyrics

A Munich court held that ChatGPT infringed copyright by reproducing protected German song lyrics, ruling in favour of GEMA in a case concerning nine works.

The court found that generating altered or partial versions of copyrighted lyrics amounted to unauthorised derivative works under German copyright law. It clarified that the use of copyrighted material during AI training does not shield the platform from liability for infringing outputs.

The court, however, rejected GEMA’s ancillary claim alleging violation of the authors’ general personal rights relating to attribution of modified lyrics. The ruling underscores platform liability for AI-generated content that reproduces protected creative expressions.

[GEMA v OpenAI]