A German court has ruled in favor of music collection society GEMA in a copyright infringement case against AI music platform Suno, a decision poised to influence how generative AI companies license music and operate across Europe.
The Munich Regional Court upheld three infringement claims. It found that Suno used GEMA’s protected repertoire to train its AI models without permission, that storing the trained model on servers in Germany constituted a separate act of infringement, and that the platform generated musical outputs substantially similar to the original works.
Fair Use Defense Rejected
Suno argued that its training activities, conducted in the United States, were protected by the US fair use doctrine. The court rejected this, determining that the model had memorized GEMA-controlled compositions and could produce closely replicating outputs. The ruling distinguished the case from recent US decisions, such as Bartz and Kadrey, where no direct reproduction of training data was found.
The court also held that storing the trained model on German servers infringed copyright because the protected elements remained embedded within the model.
Remedies and Broader Implications
Suno has been ordered to cease reproducing six specific works at the center of the dispute:
- “Atemlos”
- “Daddy Cool”
- “Rasputin”
- “Big in Japan”
- “Forever Young”
- “Mambo No. 5”
The company must also disclose how these works were used, account for related revenues, and pay damages. While the lawsuit focused on six songs, the court’s reasoning could apply across GEMA’s entire repertoire, suggesting Suno would need a license to continue using any GEMA-controlled works in Europe.
Suno has rejected the ruling, claiming the court misunderstood both its technology and the application of US fair use. The company is expected to appeal.
