OpenAI loses lawsuit over use of song lyrics in Germany

A German court ruled on Tuesday that OpenAI violated copyright on nine popular songs in a lawsuit filed by music rights group GEMA.

The Munich Regional Court found that the US company had used copyrighted song lyrics to train its ChatGPT language generator without a licence.

GEMA sued the artificial intelligence company specifically over the use of nine well-known songs, including Helene Fischer's "Atemlos durch die Nacht" and Herbert Grönemeyer's "Männer."

The court ordered OpenAI to refrain from storing the lyrics and outputting them in its models, to pay damages, and to disclose information about the use of the songs and the income generated from them. The ruling is not yet final and is likely to be appealed.