GEMA is the first collecting society worldwide to file a lawsuit
against a provider of generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems
for the unlicensed use of protected musical works. Specifically, it
concerns the US company OpenAI, the autogenerative chatbot systems
operator. GEMA accuses OpenAI of reproducing protected song lyrics by
German authors without having acquired licenses or paid the authors in
question. The aim is to prove that OpenAI systematically uses GEMA’s
repertoire to train its systems.
OpenAI has become the world’s leading provider in the field of
generative AI and now boasts annual sales over two billion dollars. In
2024, the company is aiming for sales of up to five billion dollars. Its
AI-supported language system or chatbot, ChatGPT, was trained with
copyrighted texts, including song lyrics from the repertoire of around
95,000 GEMA members. These authors have not yet been paid for the use of
their works.
On November 13, 2024, GEMA therefore filed a lawsuit with the Munich
Regional Court to enforce its members’ claims against the American
parent company, OpenAI, LLC, and against OpenAI Ireland Ltd., the
chatbot’s operator in Europe. The lawsuit‘s subject is the chatbot’s
unlicensed reproduction of song lyrics. When simple prompts are entered,
the chatbot reproduces the original song lyrics with which the system
has obviously been trained.
While other internet services pay licensing fees to authors for using
their texts, OpenAI systematically makes use of the authors’ content,
deliberately infringing copyrights. Fair remuneration is circumvented.
Dr. Tobias Holzmüller, CEO of GEMA, says, “Our members‘ songs are not
free raw material for generative AI systems providers‘ business models.
Anyone who wants to use these songs must acquire a license and
remunerate the authors fairly. We have developed a license model for
this. We are taking and will always take legal action against unlicensed
use.”
Numerous well-known German music artists, including Kristina Bach
(“Atemlos”), Rolf Zuckowski, Reinhard Mey, Inga Humpe, Thomas Eckert,
Ulf Sommer and Peter Plate, as well as their music publishers, support
GEMA’s lawsuit. Their song lyrics have demonstrably been exploited by
the chatbot without remuneration.
Supervisory Board Chairman Dr. Ralf Weigand says, “Last week, we made it
clear with GEMA’s AI Charter that human creative achievements must not
be used as a free template for the offerings of AI providers in a deeply
commercial exploitation chain. Likewise, we cannot accept that copyright
infringements occur in the output of chatbots. GEMA’s lawsuit sends an
important signal: the livelihood of us creative professionals is at
stake.”
GEMA presented a generative AI licensing model at the end of September.
The aim is the fair participation of music creators when their works are
used in training systems, in the generation of new AI songs or as part
of AI-generated music content. In the past, GEMA had already informed AI
model and system operators in writing that they must acquire a license
to use GEMA works.
GEMA General Counsel Dr. Kai Welp, says, “The new technology presents us
with fundamental legal questions that we absolutely must clarify. This
is the only way we will succeed in establishing a licensing model on the
market that strikes a fair balance between creators‘ and exploiters‘
interests. Our model procedure makes a decisive contribution to this.
However, it also shows that we are prepared to enforce the rights to
which authors are entitled.”
GEMA’s AI Charter calls for a responsible approach to generative AI. It
comprises ten core principles, including protection of intellectual
property, fair participation of creative professionals in value
creation, sustainability, and transparency and responsibility from AI
providers.
GEMA represents the copyrights of around 95,000 members in
Germany (composers, lyricists, music publishers) as well as over two
million rights holders from all over the world. It is one of the world’s
largest authors’ societies for musical works.
Note to editors
FAQ on the lawsuit against OpenAI: www.gema.de/ai-lawsuit
GEMA’s AI Charter: www.gema.de/ai-charter
Information on the AI licensing model as well as statements, facts and
figures on “AI and music” can be found in GEMA’s digital AI dossier at www.gema.de/ki
You can find the “AI and music” study (2024) at www.gema.de/ai-study
Contact:
Ursula Goebel, Director of Communications Phone: +49 89 48003-426 E-mail: [email protected] Christina Zander, Communications Manager Phone: +49 170 4155365 E-mail: [email protected]
