The Munich Regional Court has ruled that the use of song lyrics by artificial intelligence applications without permission is illegal, in a case brought by the German copyright organization GEMA against OpenAI, the provider of ChatGPT.

If an artificial intelligence application uses song lyrics without first obtaining the necessary license, it violates German copyright law, the court concluded, largely adopting GEMA’s arguments that the automatic use of song lyrics constitutes unauthorized reproduction and distribution.

Following this decision, OpenAI will be required to pay compensation for any copyrighted material it has used so far, including some particularly popular songs in the German-speaking world, such as Herbert Grönemeyer’s “Männer” and Rolf Zuckowski’s Christmas song “In der Weihnachtsbäckerei.”

GEMA, for its part, is not seeking a ban on the use of lyrics but compensation for rights holders. The ruling is not yet binding, as OpenAI has the right to appeal.

“We are dealing with an extremely intelligent defendant, capable of developing cutting-edge technologies. It seems astonishing that it does not realize that if you want to build something, you must acquire the necessary components rather than use someone else’s property. What the defendant is doing is no different from what other online services do — they must obtain a license to use creators’ works,” said GEMA’s chief legal counsel, Kai Welp, expressing hope that the German court’s decision will serve as a precedent for similar cases across Europe.