Recently, a Munich district court in Germany ruled that the US artificial intelligence giant OpenAI committed copyright infringement by using lyrics from German musicians to train its AI model without permission, and ordered it to pay damages to the major German music copyright association representing the rights holders. Although the amount of the case is not disclosed, its judicial logic may reshape the legal boundaries for AI training data across Europe.

"Unauthorized Use Is Illegal": Europe Draws a Red Line for AI Training

The court clearly stated in its ruling: original lyrics protected by copyright, whether or not they are "transformed" or "embedded in model parameters," must be used with the authorization of the rights holder. This position directly challenges the current industry practice of major AI companies that claim training data falls under "fair use." The judge emphasized that AI models generating new content by learning human creations cannot exempt them from the obligation to legally obtain original materials.

OpenAI, artificial intelligence, AI

This ruling is seen as a key precedent in Europe's governance of generative AI copyrights. Unlike the United States, which is still in legislative debates, the EU has already established a strict data compliance framework through the Artificial Intelligence Act and the Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market. This case will further promote "authorization first, payment required" as the default rule for AI training data.

The Music Industry Launches a Counterattack, and AI Companies Face Systemic Risks

The music industry has long been vigilant about the erosion of AI on the creative ecosystem. From AI imitating singers' voices to generating "stylized" lyrics, technology abuse has already triggered multiple disputes. The recent victory of the German copyright association provides a replicable path for global creators to protect their rights. Industry analysts believe that rights holders in fields such as books, news, and art images may initiate similar lawsuits in large numbers, and companies like OpenAI, Meta, and Google that rely on massive data will face potential legal risks.

Compliance Costs Soar, AI Industry Enters the "Authorization Era"

Experts point out that this case will force AI companies to restructure their data supply chains:

In the future, model training needs to establish a copyright cleaning mechanism to remove unauthorized content;

Signing bulk licensing agreements with publishers, record companies, and image libraries will become the norm;

"Transparency of data sources" may become a new standard for users choosing AI services.

Although OpenAI has not commented on the ruling, it has recently accelerated content licensing agreements with organizations such as the Associated Press and Shutterstock, indicating a strategic shift. However, achieving full compliance with the training corpus of trillions of tokens remains a formidable challenge.

AIbase believes that the German court's ruling is not only a warning to one company, but also a questioning of the entire AI industry's development model: when "taking without permission" is no longer feasible, innovation must be built on the foundation of respecting original works. In an era of technological acceleration, the law is installing an "ethical brake" on AI — and this may be the true starting point for sustainable innovation.