German court rules AI music firm Suno infringed copyright

A Munich court has ruled that AI music generation service Suno has infringed on music copyrights and must pay compensation, marking a significant legal challenge for the U.S.-based company.

The court determined that Suno is not authorized to use music created by artists represented by the German music rights organization GEMA. While the specific amount of compensation has not yet been determined, the ruling is a key development in the ongoing legal battles faced by AI music platforms.

Suno, valued at an estimated $5.4 billion, allows users to generate songs by providing text prompts to its AI. The company has been involved in multiple lawsuits alleging copyright infringement. In a separate case, Suno reached a settlement with Warner Music last year.

This ruling comes as AI music services face increasing scrutiny over their use of existing music for training AI models. Over 1,800 musicians have supported a class-action lawsuit against Suno and competitor Udio. Additionally, the Czech copyright protection association OSA announced in early July its intention to sue Suno for unauthorized use of its represented artists' original works to train AI music generation models.