**German Court Rules OpenAI Violated Copyright Laws Through ChatGPT**
A German court has recently ruled that OpenAI violated copyright law through its ChatGPT chatbot program. This decision stems from the generative AI service’s unauthorized reproduction of lyrics from several popular German artists in its content.
The ruling, reported by Reuters earlier this week, found OpenAI in breach of multiple copyright laws. Consequently, the company has been ordered to pay an undisclosed amount in damages to the affected copyright holders.
The plaintiff in the case was the German music rights society GEMA, which represented various musicians whose works were allegedly used without permission to train OpenAI’s ChatGPT language models. Among the artists impacted was best-selling musician Herbert Groenemeyer. His singles “Maenner” and “Bochum” were identified as part of nine songs cited in the lawsuit.
Judge Elke Schwager ultimately sided with GEMA, concluding that OpenAI’s use of copyrighted material infringed upon the artists’ rights. While the exact damages to be paid remain confidential, the verdict marks a significant legal setback for OpenAI in the realm of generative AI services.
This is not the first time OpenAI has faced legal challenges over its AI technology. Its Sora 2 video generation tool has previously attracted complaints and potential lawsuits from notable industry groups such as the Motion Picture Association, SAG-AFTRA, and Japan’s CODA group.
In its defense during the recent case, OpenAI argued that its language models do not store training data directly but occasionally produce outputs similar to the source material. However, the court determined that the chatbot’s outputs were too closely aligned with copyrighted work, constituting infringement.
As generative AI continues to grow and evolve, this ruling highlights the ongoing legal complexities surrounding data usage and copyright protections in AI training processes.
https://www.shacknews.com/article/146798/openai-chatgpt-german-music-copyright-lawsuit