German court rules AI music platform Suno infringed copyright laws

Germany's music industry and artificial intelligence companies are locked in an escalating legal battle, with a Munich Regional Court ruling that the AI music generation platform Suno has infringed copyright laws. The court determined that Suno used songs from the repertoire of GEMA, a German organization representing musicians and artists, to train its AI models without obtaining proper authorization. This ruling could require Suno to pay damages, according to Reuters. Ralf Weigand, chairman of GEMA's Supervisory Board, stated that the verdict sends a clear international message: "Creativity has value, and the rights of authors and creators remain valid even in the age of AI." Tobias Holzmüller, GEMA's CEO, added, "Without humans, AI is nothing." He insisted that AI providers must acquire licenses and cannot use members' works for free. The lawsuit originated in January 2025 when GEMA accused Suno of enabling users to generate songs "surprisingly similar" to GEMA-owned works, including melody, harmony, and rhythm. Suno had previously admitted to training its systems on these works without paying license fees but denied any payment obligation. Suno has stated it disagrees with the decision and is considering an appeal, asserting that its models are trained to create new songs, not reproduce existing ones, and that protective measures are integrated into the platform. This is not GEMA's first legal victory; in November 2025, the same court ruled against OpenAI for storing and reproducing copyrighted song lyrics without licenses.

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This ruling sends a clear international message: Creativity has value, and the rights of authors and creators remain valid even in the age of AI.